More than four in five people say they have seen an increase in scam-related communications over the past year, according to a survey.
A poll of 2,000 people by Barclays found around 84% of respondents had noticed a rise in suspect communications.
The bank said its own figures on reported scams show that 45% of those occurring between January and March 2021 originated on tech platforms, including social media, auction or purchase websites, apps and dating websites.
Its survey found people are more alert to the possibility of being scammed when answering their mobile phone (69%) or landline (66%), or when reading an email (73%) or text message (69%) than when scrolling through social media (38%).
Barclays said its figures on reported scams suggest that while those originating on tech platforms are high in volume, they tend to be lower value, making up just 20% of the total value of scam claims.
It said this shows that customers should always be on the alert, even when making smaller purchases.
Head of fraud at Barclays, Jim Winters, said: “Fraudsters don’t discriminate when it comes to who they target, and are becoming ever more sophisticated in their tactics, requiring us all to be on high alert in order not to get caught out.”
