UK-based bank TSB has issued a warning to avoid making online purchases on Facebook Marketplace, as more than a third of the adverts tested on the platform could be scams.
TSB’s fraud team, which carried out its research last November, sampled 100 Facebook Marketplace posts and engaged with the seller to determine whether the items were genuinely for sale.
They concluded that 34% of the listings were fraudulent, with scammers often directing the TSB fraud experts to fake websites.
Facebook Marketplace currently accounts for 73% of all purchase fraud cases at the bank and remains the biggest driver of fraud by volume. The lender calculates that £60m could have been lost by customers of all banks via Facebook Marketplace in 2023.
Matt Hepburn, the bank’s fraud spokesperson, said: “Social media companies really must act on their commitments under the government’s Online Fraud Charter by urgently clearing up their platforms — removing scam adverts is a good first test.”
UK Finance’s latest report shows that 77% of all authorised push payment (APP) fraud in the first half of 2023 originated on online platforms. APP fraud, in which victims are tricked into making payments themselves, fell by 1% in the first half of 2023, but is still 27% higher than in 2020.
UK Finance’s figures also show that fraud fell by 2% in the first half of last year, compared with the same period in 2022.
