THE RISE OF INSTA-SCAMS AND HOW TO AVOID THEM

With online cons rising fourfold during the Covid-19 crisis, speaks to two victims and finds out how we can better protect ourselves

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It’s the world’s fastest-growing social media platform with more than a billion monthly global users, but Instagram has become a hotbed for scammers – with the Covid-19 pandemic sparking a 400 per cent rise in online fraud.

Although most of us use the site to scroll through inspiring pics of other people’s lives, Instagrammers are increasingly being targeted by criminals selling fake goods or pushing phoney investments and dating cons.

Action Fraud, the UK’s national reporting centre for cyber fraud, has revealed that locked-down Brits were fleeced out of £185,000 on Insta shopping scams between April and the end of June – and this is just the tip of the iceberg as many people don’t report fraudulent activity. In addition to buying goods from fake ads running on the site, users were also conned out of £700,000 on fake investments and £130,000 on dating hoaxes in the same period.

Lucy Cumming, a senior analyst at the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, tells new, “During the coronavirus outbreak, we’ve seen a massive spike in online shopping fraud, partly due to a change in consumer habits. As many people feel anxious about going to the shops, we’ve been buying online instead. And because of financial uncertainty, we’re looking for cheaper alternatives, making us more susceptible to fraud.”

Insta users are being mis-sold everything from inferior hair, beauty and electrical products to fake Covid-19 testing kits and so-called “cures” – with many items never actually showing up.