Meta platforms identified as lead originators of APP fraud scams

Recently we discussed in a webinar with Visa the growing issue of APP fraud across Europe and the mandatory reimbursement of consumers that is soon to be implemented by regulators on banks – one statistic from the research showed “52% of current account holders believe banks the most responsibility to prevent APP scams”.

Meta identified as lead originators of APP fraud

But this is to miss the bigger picture in the APP fraud and scam explosion – where do the scam originate? Who is responsible for stopping the origination?

Now, readers of Payments Cards & Mobile will know that we have, for a long time, not been fans of Mark Zuckerberg, but now new research confirms 60% of its UK scam cases reported in 2023 originated through Meta platforms.

Across its UK customer base in 2023, Revolut found that 60% of all of its reported UK scam cases originated from just three sources: Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp.

Additionally, 33% of the total value of all money lost to scams began on Meta platforms across the same period.

The use of Meta platforms as the primary originator of scams is only increasing, rising from 52% of all reported cases in the UK in H1 2023, to 66% in the six months to the end of December 2023

The stark figures showed a similar trend across Revolut’s European markets, with 61% of all EEA (European Economic Area) reported scam cases originating from Meta, and 37% of the total value of all money lost to scams, starting from the social media giant.

Type of scams

Revolut found that a range of scams were being used to con people.

The two most common types were Investment Scams, where individuals are promised “get-rich-quick” opportunities in exchange for “investing” large amounts of money, and Purchase Scams where people are conned into buying items that don’t exist or aren’t as advertised.

Banks should be the last line of defence, not the only line of defence.

Revolut’s data showed that 59% of all money lost to scams came through investment scams in 2023, despite only representing 17% of the total number of cases, showing that life changing sums of money were being lost across comparatively few cases.

Conversely, Purchase Scams were the most common type of scam, representing 50% of UK scam cases across the same period, but less than 6% of the overall value lost, showing that smaller scams were more common but with lower monetary losses.

Online vs Phone scams

Revolut found that fraudsters preferred using the internet as a way to con people out of their money, with 86% of all scams in H2 2023 committed online, whilst scams carried out over the phone represented just 11% of all cases.

“At Revolut, we are committed to preventing scams and saving customers’ money from ruthless criminals,” Woody Malouf, Group Head of Financial Crime of Revolut.

“However, it has become increasingly clear that Meta platforms are being used as a hotbed for scams.

Our data not only shows that scams are being facilitated through social media platforms, but that investment scams in particular are resulting in life changing sums of money being stolen. We urge our customers to avoid so-called “investment opportunities” promoted through such platforms. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.

We are fully determined to protect our customers as best we can through our fraud prevention technologies, but there is no denying that this is an issue that also needs to be tackled at source to have any hope of being beaten.

Banks and financial institutions should be the last line of defence, not the only line of defence.”