Search Engines And Social Media Still Rife With Scams

Social media platforms and search engines are still littered with scam adverts as an epidemic” of fraud grips the UK, a watchdog has warned. Which? found blatant” fraudulent advertising, from copycats of major retail brands to investment scams and ads using the identities of celebrities, despite them having no connection with the product or service.

- JOSIE CLARKE

The consumer group scoured Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter/X and YouTube as well as search engines Google and Bing in November and December and were able to find a range of obvious scam adverts easily, even though the Online Safety Act had received royal assent weeks earlier. The act does not officially come into force on scam adverts until after Ofcom finalises the codes of practice, which the regulator will use to set the standard platforms must meet.

On Meta’s ad library, Which? found Facebook and Instagram hosting multiple copycat adverts impersonating major retailers around the time of the Black Friday sales, including electricals giant Currys plus clothing brands River Island and Marks & Spencer. Each advert attempted to lure victims to bogus sites in a bid to extract their payment details.