Reports of social media and email account hacks surged last year, as indicated. Action Fraud data.
In 2024, the fraud and cybercrime reporting service received a total of 35,434 reports, up from 22,530 reports in 2023.
Action Fraud has initiated a campaign, backed by Meta , to motivate individuals to go the extra mile in securing their online presence by activating two-step verification for all their accounts.
Action Fraud reported that the primary reasons behind social media hacks typically included investment scams, ticket fraud, or stealing the compromised accounts.
Adam Mercer, the deputy director of Action Fraud, stated, "Given that social media and email account hacks continue to be the top-reported cybercrimes this year, this Action Fraud initiative highlights a crucial concern for all individuals with online accounts."
David Agranovich, who leads security policies at Meta, stated: "Scammers are persistent and continually refine their methods to avoid being caught. This is why we're consistently developing innovative approaches to protect individuals while barring malicious entities."
An essential method for enhancing account safety on Meta platforms is through two-factor authentication (2FA), which adds another protective barrier to deter scammers from gaining access to your information.
We have begun implementing facial recognition technology to assist individuals in regaining access to their compromised or hacked accounts, and we continuously explore new methods to stay one step ahead of fraudsters.
Action Fraud revealed that hackers obtained control over accounts and pretended to be the rightful owners, tricking others into disclosing their authentication codes.
A lot of targets of this kind of hacking think they are communicating with a friend. Frequently, once an account has been hijacked, criminals utilize it to advertise bogus tickets or cryptocurrency investment scams, all while posing as the legitimate user.
A frequent deception occurs when cybercriminals obtain account information through phishing attacks or data breaches, like exposed passwords.
Individuals frequently employ identical passwords for multiple accounts; thus, when a single site experiences a data breach, numerous personal profiles across various platforms become susceptible to unauthorized access.
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