Facebook is failing to safeguard Britons from online scams using fake celebrity endorsements, watchdog warns
- Facebook users were unaware sham products could be advertised on the site
- Younger people may actually be more susceptible to scams a survey found
- Only 30 per cent were aware of the scam ad reporting tool introduced in 2019
Tech giants are failing to safeguard millions of Britons from online scams that use fake celebrity endorsements, a watchdog report warns.
A third of Facebook users were unaware sham products could be advertised on the site, consumer champion Which? found.
And a quarter of those surveyed were unable to spot a phoney investment scam which included a fake endorsement from a celebrity.
Dragons’ Den judge Deborah Meaden and MoneySavingExpert’s Martin Lewis have both been falsely used in these sort of scams.
According to the survey risks included taking part in online shopping and quizzes
Younger people may actually be more susceptible to scams as they are more persuadable and more likely to take risks, the survey of 1,700 Facebook users found.
Risks included taking part in online shopping and quizzes.
But only 30 per cent were aware of the scam ad reporting tool introduced by Facebook in 2019, while just one in ten users had used it.
One woman, who lost £30,000 to investment fraudsters, said: ‘It breaks you as a person.’
Which? is calling for online platforms to be given greater responsibility to prevent such content appearing on their platforms.
- Rocio Concha, its director of policy and advocacy, said: ‘It is clear that social media firms such as Facebook are failing to step up and properly protect users from fraudsters on their sites.’