TSB says one in three UK shoppers has been scammed on social media or resale sites, and fake sellers are expected to be busy before Black Friday and Christmas.
One in three people in the UK has fallen for a purchase scam on social media or a secondhand site, according to new research from the bank TSB. The bank is warning shoppers to be careful as Black Friday and Christmas approach, when more people hunt for bargains online.
TSB surveyed 2,000 Brits and also looked at its own customer data. A purchase scam is when a seller takes your money and never sends the item, or the item never existed. The survey found that 53% of people have either been caught out or know someone who has.
TSB's data shows purchase fraud makes up 45% of all money its customers lose through bank transfers. That share is up 4% from a year ago.
The money adds up. TSB customers have lost £2.3 million to purchase fraud this year, about £540 each on average. Shoppers in the survey expect to spend an average of £245 on gifts and purchases over the sales and Christmas period, so one bad deal can wipe out a lot of it.
Money worries may push more people toward risky places. The poll found 42% plan to rely more on discounts. Another 37% plan to use secondhand marketplaces, and a third plan to shop on social media, where fake sellers can be harder to spot.
Younger shoppers are hit hardest. In the survey, 49% of 25 to 34 year olds and 44% of 18 to 24 year olds had been scammed. Among TSB's scam cases, Facebook accounts for 65%, followed by TikTok at 14%, Snapchat at 7% and Instagram at 6%.
Scammers go after many kinds of goods. The biggest losses come from vehicles, followed by:
Clothing and phones are also commonly faked, and even vapes made TSB's most scammed list.
Fake photos are a growing problem. TSB found four in ten Brits are not confident they can tell an AI-made image from a real photograph when shopping. A polished picture of a product is no longer proof that the seller has it.
Richard Daniels, TSB's Director of Fraud Prevention, said the scale of shopping scams shows you cannot fully trust a seller online. He urged people to consider official sites or marketplaces that offer a payment platform.
The steps in the alert box above cover how to shop more safely. The main idea is to keep your payment inside a trusted system and to be doubtful of any deal that seems too good to be true.
People who buy only from established retailer sites are following TSB's advice already. The research does not say how common scams are on those sites, so staying alert still makes sense.
Before paying a stranger online this season, stop and ask whether the deal is real, and prefer sellers that use a protected payment system.
Fake PayPal emails and texts, some posing as a security report, try to get you to tap a link and type your login. Checking your account directly avoids the trap.
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