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Social media fraud has overtaken traditional banking concerns as the primary scam-related worry for UK residents, according to new research by email validation service ZeroBounce.
The study, which analyzed Google search data for 36 different types of fraud, revealed that social media fraud generates an average of 23,640 monthly searches.
This figure is 550% higher than the typical search volume for fraud queries in the UK and significantly higher than searches for bank fraud, which followed in second place with 21,349 monthly queries.
A new frontier for fraudsters
The data suggests a significant shift in the digital threat landscape. While traditional banking scams remain a major concern, the high volume of interest in social media platforms indicates that they have become a primary channel for targeting victims.
“This data shows that social media has become the new frontier for fraudsters, with search volumes reflecting growing public concern about these platforms,” says Brian Minick, COO at ZeroBounce. “The high search volumes for both social media and bank fraud tell us that people are facing threats across multiple channels.”
The research highlights that scams involving everyday digital services and trusted organizations are causing the most anxiety. Beyond social media and banking, delivery-related fraud and impersonations of authorities such as HMRC also ranked highly.
| Rank | Type of Fraud | Average Monthly Searches | Percentage Above Average |
| 1 | Social media | 23,640 | 550% |
| 2 | Bank | 21,349 | 487% |
| 3 | Delivery | 9,150 | 152% |
| 4 | HMRC | 9,134 | 151% |
| 5 | PayPal | 7,164 | 97% |
| 6 | Phone bill | 6,155 | 69% |
| 7 | Amazon | 4,935 | 36% |
Conversely, some traditional scams have seen much lower search interest. For example, energy rebate fraud (17 searches) and Ofgem fraud (20 searches) each generated less than 1% of the search volume compared to social media scams, suggesting these older or more targeted tactics are currently less of a broad public concern.
Minick notes that the evolution of these tactics is particularly troubling because they target the essential services people rely on daily. “From delivery companies to tax authorities, scammers are impersonating trusted organisations that play essential roles in our daily lives,” he adds.
Experts recommend remaining vigilant and verifying information across all channels, regardless of how trusted the platform or organization may seem.
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