The Aporia · Money stolen by scammers hijacking UK social media accounts rises 400%

UK scammers who hack social media and email accounts have stolen £6.3 million in the 2025-26 financial year, marking a 400% increase from £1.2 million in the previous year. Scammers often impersonate victims to sell fake event tickets or use deceptive tactics like pretending to be a family member in need of urgent money. The City of London police’s Report Fraud service highlights that many incidents go unreported due to embarrassment or because losses are small, and warns that compromised accounts can lead to broader personal and financial consequences for the victim's contacts.

Written by AI on 2026-10-05, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

Story summary

The total amount stolen through email and social media account hacking in the UK has surged by more than 400% within a year, increasing from £1.2m in 2024-25 to £6.3m in 2025-26, according to data from the Report Fraud service managed by the City of London police. Scammers often hijack victims' accounts to sell fake event tickets, such as those for sold-out gigs, convincing friends and family that they are interacting with the actual account holder. For instance, a music fan’s Instagram was compromised, leading hackers to steal £1,400 from her contacts by pretending to be her while advertising false ticket sales for an Oasis concert. Many victims refrain from reporting such incidents due to embarrassment or because the individual amounts stolen are small, suggesting that actual losses could be significantly higher than reported figures.

Written for “Social Media Scams Rising” on 2026-11-02, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

📰 Social Media Scams Rising

Technology · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

This article reads unscored and hedges 21% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.

'Mum sent them £140,000': How to spot the signs a loved one is being scammed Different event

BBC News

Hedges 5 of 38 claims Outlet record 68/100

“Article A describes an individual case of a mother being scammed out of £140,000 by romance scammers, while Article B discusses overall statistics and trends in social media account hacking scams across the UK.”

More Americans hit with cyber scams as AI fuels fraud, report finds Different event

CBS News

Hedges 0 of 1 claims Outlet record 66/100

“The articles describe different aspects of cyber scams; one mentions a general increase and personal experience in America, while the other details a significant rise in financial fraud specifically in the UK.”

AI leaves quarter of UK adults ‘overwhelmed’ by sophistication of scams Different event

Evening Standard

Hedges 1 of 21 claims Outlet record 64/100

“The articles discuss different aspects of scams in relation to AI and social media hacking; they do not describe the same specific incident.”

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability

Source leaning vs. consistency

Rupert Jones

4 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction

🔮 Drivers will get a guaranteed five minutes to decide whether to park and 10 minutes to leave after their parking session ends before they face a fine under new rules for private car parks that Andy Burnham said were designed to outlaw “rip-off” charges.

2026-10-19 · assertive framing · Andy Burnham outlines new rules to outlaw ‘rip-off’ private parking fines

🔮 If a provider attracts enough savings cash it will pull a product from sale.

2026-10-10 · assertive framing · UK savings: 5% interest rate deals may not last, say experts

🔮 However, the true total may be much higher as many scam victims do not report the crime, often because they feel embarrassed, and sometimes because the individual amount of money involved was relatively small.

2026-10-04 · mixed framing · Money stolen by scammers hijacking UK social media accounts rises 400%

🔮 However, some savers will recall that as recently as late 2023 there were fixed bonds paying 6%, and if and when the Bank of England base rate goes up, that could push returns on savings higher than they are now.

2026-09-28 · mixed framing · Should you lock into a fixed-rate savings account paying 5.25%?

Also by Rupert Jones

Andy Burnham outlines new rules to outlaw ‘rip-off’ private parking fines

2026-10-19 · The Guardian

UK savings: 5% interest rate deals may not last, say experts

2026-10-10 · The Guardian

Should you lock into a fixed-rate savings account paying 5.25%?

2026-09-28 · The Guardian

Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

The Guardian previously featured the case of a music fan whose Instagram account was targeted by hackers, who used her identity to advertise tickets to an Oasis gig and stole £1,400 from her friends.

framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-05

2026-10-05 · The Guardian

Money stolen by scammers hijacking UK social media accounts rises 400% · mixed framing

The total amount stolen by criminals who hack into people’s emails and social media accounts and then pretend to be them has risen by more than 400% in a year, official UK data shows. asserted

data → steal → year

In many cases, the scammers are hijacking people’s accounts in order to use their identity to sell fake event tickets – such as to sold-out gigs – to unsuspecting friends and family. asserted

scammers → hijack → friends

The total reported amount stolen via email and social media account hacking reached £6.3m in the 2025-26 financial year, compared with £1.2m in 2024-25, according to the Report Fraud service run by the City of London police, which holds national responsibility for economic crime. uncertain

which → report → crime

However, the true total may be much higher as many scam victims do not report the crime, often because they feel embarrassed, and sometimes because the individual amount of money involved was relatively small. uncertain

amount → report → money

who → feature → friends

She said the hackers impersonated her so well that her friends and family genuinely thought they were speaking to her. asserted

they → say → her

Others have been scammed by fraudulent WhatsApp and text messages in which a criminal pretends to be their child or a relative who is in an emergency situation and urgently needs cash. asserted

who → scamme → cash

This has been dubbed the “Hi mum” scam. asserted

This → dub → ?

Data from Santander has shown that among customers of the bank, fraudsters pretending to be someone’s son were the most successful at extracting cash, followed by daughters. asserted

fraudsters → show → daughters

Ch Supt Amanda Wolf, head of Report Fraud operations, said: “For most people, being hacked isn’t just a cyber issue – it’s personal. asserted

it → say → people

It can leave victims locked out of important accounts, worried about what information has been accessed, and concerned that criminals may use their identity to target others.” uncertain

criminals → leave → others

She added that what starts with one compromised account “can quickly impact family, friends and colleagues as fraudsters exploit trusted relationships to commit further fraud”. asserted

fraudsters → add → fraud

Report Fraud is launching an awareness campaign urging the public to protect their online accounts from hackers by switching to passkeys where they are available. asserted

they → launch → passkeys

A passkey uses an individual’s device and biometrics to authenticate them and cannot be hacked like a password. asserted

passkey → use → password

Money stolen by scammers hijacking UK social media accounts rises 400%

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