£63m lost in year of web cons

INVESTORS lost more than £63million to social media scams in just a year, police revealed.

Some were lured with direct messages, while others fell for rogue money-making schemes advertised online.

Supt Sanjay Andersen, of the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, said: “Reports of investment fraud have increased significantly since the start of the pandemic, which is unsurprising when the vast majority of us had to conduct nearly every aspect of our lives on a computer or mobile.”

In the year from April 2020, some 5,039 reports of investment fraud mentioned social media platforms. Most were on Instagram (35.2 per cent), then Facebook (18.4 per cent).

Nearly half (44.7 per cent) involved cryptocurrency cons.

Fake endorsements from celebrities and cloned details of legitimate investment firms were among the most common tricks.