One in five have social media hacked

One in five young adults say they have had their social media accounts hacked at some point, a survey has found.

The survey from Nationwide Building Society found 20 per cent claim to have had their social media accounts hacked and more than one in 10 of those said they had lost money as a result. The survey of 1,000 16 to 25-year-olds also found that 83 per cent know someone who gives away personal information online or had seenotherssharetheircurrent location, photos that identify where they work or study, photos of their front door and even their bank account details.

Stuart Skinner, director of fraud at Nationwide Building Society, said: “Wishing someone a happy birthday or sharing your location may seem innocent but fraudsters can piece together information collecting enough to defraud people. To protect yourself, check privacy settings so only vetted friends can see updates, don’t give away too much information or anything you wouldn’t want a fraudster to see, have a strong password that doesn’t use personal information and stop and think before sharing.”