Money stolen by scammers hijacking UK social media accounts jumps 400%
The amount stolen by criminals who hijack people's emails and social media accounts in the UK has risen more than 400% in a year, official data shows, with fraudsters often using stolen identities to sell fake event tickets.
The total amount stolen by criminals hijacking people's email and social media accounts in the UK has surged by more than 400% over the past year, according to official data from the national fraud reporting service run by the City of London police, which holds national responsibility for economic crime.
The reported total reached £6.3m in the latest financial year, up from £1.2m the year before. The real figure is likely far higher, since many victims never report being scammed, often out of embarrassment or because the amount lost felt too small to bother reporting.
Fake tickets and the 'Hi mum' scam
In many cases, criminals take over a victim's account specifically to impersonate them and sell fake tickets to sold-out events to the victim's own friends and family. One previously reported case involved a music fan whose Instagram account was hacked; the attackers used her identity to advertise tickets to an Oasis concert and stole £1,400 from her friends, who believed they were genuinely speaking with her.
Other victims have been targeted through fraudulent WhatsApp messages and texts in which a scammer poses as the victim's child or another relative claiming to be in an emergency and in urgent need of money — a tactic that has become known as the 'Hi mum' scam. Data from Santander shows that, among its customers, fraudsters impersonating someone's son were the most successful at obtaining money this way, with those posing as a daughter close behind.
Chief Superintendent Amanda Wolf, who heads the fraud reporting operation, said that for most people being hacked is not merely a cybersecurity issue but a deeply personal one, leaving victims locked out of accounts, anxious about what information may have been exposed, and worried that criminals could use their identity against others. She noted that a single compromised account can quickly ripple outward, affecting family, friends and colleagues as fraudsters exploit existing trust.
The fraud reporting service is now launching a public awareness campaign encouraging people to secure their accounts by switching to passkeys wherever the option is available. Passkeys authenticate users through their own device and biometrics rather than a password, making them far harder for criminals to compromise.
