Barclays Bank is calling on social media platforms to act quickly to improve verification of financial listings after reporting a sharp rise in investment fraud.
According to Barclays data, investment fraud accounted for a third (33%) of all customer money lost to fraudsters in 2023, up 23% from the previous year. Of all types of fraud, investment fraud accounted for the largest share of total claim values, with the volume of investment fraud increasing by almost a third.
Barclays says this rise is being fueled by fraudsters exploiting their ability to promote unverified financial ads on social media sites. More than six out of ten investment scams now take place on these platforms.
Data from Barclays shows that millennials and men are particularly vulnerable – men’s average investment fraud claim rises to £16,306, while claims from young people aged 21 to 40 account for 48 per cent of all investment fraud cases.
Stephanie Mac Sweeney, head of fraud strategy at Barclays, said: “It is worrying to see such a rise in investment scams – with victims often heartlessly cheated out of large sums of money they have been saving for their future.” The banking industry is working hard on this to solve, identify and deter scams, but the only way to create real change is to tackle these scams at their source. With most investment scams now taking place on their platforms, social media companies must take responsibility, keep their promises and provide a robust verification system to protect innocent people from falling victim to fraudulent investment advertisements.”