Revolut, the global neobank and financial technology company with headquarters in London, reports that its branch in Ireland finds that most scams reported to them start on three social media platforms.
Almost 55 per cent of scam cases in the second half of last year came through Facebook, Instagram and X. Revolut wants the government to take “urgent measures to stop fraud at source”, and for tech and telecoms firms to be held liable for scams that result in customers losing money.
According to the fintech, a further 6.8 per cent of scam cases in the second half of last year originated from telecoms – phone calls, emails or SMS messages. This meant, overall, close to 86 per cent of all scams originated from either social media or telecoms.
General manager of Revolut’s Irish branch, Maurice Murphy, said: “Revolut has more than 2.5 million customers in Ireland and as a regulated financial institution, we place great emphasis on protecting them from malicious scams. Through our continued data analysis, it has become increasingly clear that social media platforms, in particular, as well as phone calls and SMS messages are the primary originator of scams”.
He added: “We are committed to preventing scams through our continued analysis, fraud-prevention methods, and collaboration with the broader industry, but there is no denying this is an issue that also needs to be tackled at source. We have a team of 2,500 people dedicated to preventing fraud 24/7, (but) we believe banks and financial institutions should be the last line of defence, not the only line of defence.”
According to a return on the Lobbying Register, Revolut asked for government action on the issue at a recent meeting between one of its senior officials and an assistant secretary in the Department of Finance.
The digital bank’s global head of government affairs, Adam Gagen, said there was a need for “urgent measures to stop fraud at source”, in relation to fake phone calls, texts and websites. Gagen told the department official that Revolut would like to see heightened national and EU-level fraud responses, including “requiring” tech and telecoms firms to stop the fake tests and calls.
Revolut also wants these firms to be “held liable” for financial frauds that are enabled by fake messages, according to the return on the Lobbying Register. Asked to clarify Revolut’s position, Murphy said: “Revolut’s data clearly highlights that online platforms and telecoms companies need to be part of the solution to prevent fraud at source.
“Therefore, we believe that online platforms and telecoms companies should take an active role when fraud originates on their platforms to help prevent innocent victims from facing the financial and emotional impact of this devastating crime.” Revolut has said most scams reported to it in the UK started on Meta’s social media platforms, which include WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook, and the trend is similar across Europe, with 61 per cent of scams starting on one of Meta’s sites.
Gagen has posted on Linkedin that Revolut believes the UK government needs to create a real incentive for change “by forcing Big Tech platforms to help directly reimburse customers who are scammed through their platforms.”
Head of UK government affairs at Revolut, Rory Tanner, has said: “We need a ‘polluter pays’ policy, where the company that enables the fraud is directly involved in financially sharing the liability for reimbursing victims.”
According to the most recent figures from ComReg, the telecoms regulator, there are about 365,000 cases of fraudulent scams a year, with the quantifiable harm being conservatively estimated at 300 million euros a year. (The writer is our foreign correspondent based in the UK)
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