Warning as cybercrime rates rise

SOCIAL media and email account hacking reports jumped sharply last year, according to Action Fraud data.

A total of 35,434 reports were made to the fraud and cybercrime reporting service in 2024, compared with 22,530 reports made in 2023.

Action Fraud has launched a campaign, supported by Meta, to encourage people to take an extra step of online protection by enabling two-step verification for each online account they have.

The most common motives for social media hacking were either investment fraud, ticket fraud or theft of the targeted account, Action Fraud added.