According to Lloyds Banking Group, more than two-thirds of online shopping scams targeting UK consumers originate from Facebook and Instagram, making social media platforms a "wild west" for fraud. The research estimates that every seven minutes, someone in the UK falls victim to a purchase scam on either of the Meta-owned platforms, resulting in a weekly cost of over £500,000 to consumers.
Lloyds emphasized the need for tech companies to take responsibility by contributing to refunds when their platforms are exploited for defrauding innocent victims. This signals an escalation in the conflict between British banks and tech firms, particularly Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Lloyds is the second bank within a month to publicly call out Meta, following TSB's statement about the significant increase in scams originating from Meta-owned sites and apps.
UK Finance, an industry body representing banks, previously accused social media companies of profiting from scams occurring on their platforms and urged them to reimburse victims.
Drawing from reported cases among its vast retail customer base of over 25 million, Lloyds' research reveals that 68% of all purchase scams originate from Facebook (including its Marketplace) and Instagram. This accounts for approximately 40% of the total losses incurred from this type of scam. Considering industry-wide statistics, UK consumers are losing more than £27 million annually due to purchase scams originating from these two platforms.