One in five young adults hacked on social media

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

Some 20% claim to have had their social media accounts hacked and more than one in 10 (11%) of these people said they or a friend had lost money as a result.

More than two-fifths (43%) of those who had their social media account hacked said they did not know how this had happened, while a quarter (24%) said it happened after clicking a link from a friend that was not genuine and 7% said they had entered their log-in details into a fake webpage.

The survey of more than 1,000 16 to 25-year-olds from Nationwide Building Society also found 83% say they know someone who gives away their personal information online – potentially paving the way for fraudsters.

Some people surveyed have seen others share their current location, holiday updates, birthday, photos that identify where they work, photos of where they study, photos of their front door and even their bank account details.

More than half (52%) of people surveyed have saved passwords to their phone, while 46% have written down a password.

Some also said they had given someone their bank card and pin number, downloaded an app outside official app stores, shared a password with a friend, shared a pin number for a bank card with a friend or shared a photo of their credit or debit card via email, text or social media.

Stuart Skinner, director of fraud at Nationwide Building Society, said: “Social media is a great way for people to connect with friends or family, but it’s important to think about the information you are sharing with others, so it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.

“Wishing someone a happy birthday or sharing your location may seem innocent enough, but fraudsters can piece together information from various places, 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 any of your personal information and stop and think before sharing.”

■ Nationwide has further tips on staying safe on social media. Go to nationwide.co.uk/oversharing