Frauds in social networks increased 18 times – Mehr News Agency | Iran and world’s news
In recent years, social media has become a popular tool among cybercriminals.
A new report by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FTC) recently shows that social media is a goldmine for cybercriminals. According to the report, social network scams have increased at an increasing rate in the last 5 years, so that in 2021 the related damages will reach $ 770 million. This figure has increased 18 times compared to the 42 million dollars registered in 2017.
Last year, the federal agency received 95,000 reports of fraud on social media, which are related to various categories, including investment fraud, emotional fraud, online shopping, and so on. Investment and emotional scams (37% and 24%, respectively) suffered the most, according to the report.
In investment scams, people communicate with social media users by claiming fake investment opportunities that are profitable, and sometimes fake the identities of their friends to send money to them (scammers). Scams involving cryptocurrencies have also increased.
More than a third of the victims of online emotional fraud in 2021 claim to have been deceived on Facebook or Instagram, according to a report by the US Federal Trade Commission. This type of scam usually starts with a friend request from an unknown person. In the next step, the scammer deceives the user and demands money from him.
Online shopping scams have also increased. Although this type of scam did not cause as much damage as the other types mentioned above, it accounted for the largest number of reports submitted to the US Federal Trade Commission (45%). The victims of this type of fraud bought goods on the social network and never received their shipment. Online shopping scams are most common on Facebook and Instagram.
Overall, the report found that fraudsters in 2021 used social media more than any other platform to commit illegal acts.
This is because social media is a low-cost way to reach billions of people around the world, and it can be easily lied to.