More than half of people who have had money stolen through fraud in the past two years feel the experience has negatively affected their mental health, according to Which?.
The consumer group commissioned a survey of more than 1,500 people across the UK who had lost money to scams in the past two years.
Unauthorised fraud was the most common type reported in the survey, with people having their bank account or card details harvested (44%), or losingtheir physical card, mobile phone or other device to opportunistic thieves (16%).
Impersonation scams accounted for 35%, with victims having been groomed into authorising payments to fraudsters purporting to be trusted organisations or individuals. The remaining 5% was made up of other types of scams.
People reported their experience had a negative impact on their stress levels (63%) and mental health (54%) as well as their financial situation (47%).
One person told Which?: “It has made me feel stupid and ashamed.
“I haven’t fully told my family. I have tried to cover up the full financial loss.”
Another said: “I was so nervous and stressed. It had a big impact on my marriage as well.
“My husband thinks I don’t have enough knowledge to maintain my finances. I’m so depressed.”
A third person said their mental health “was affected very badly”, adding: “I feel like a failure.”
A Facebook user who fell victim to a scam on the platform felt the situation “was handled very poorly”, according to Which?
Which? argued tech giants should be doing more to combat scams on their platforms.
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Rocio Concha, Which? director of policy and advocacy, said: “Fraud takes a serious toll on victims’ stress levels and mental health as well as their finances, and many were left too ashamed to tell the people closest to them.
“Despite the financial harm and human misery they cause, we believe that the tech giants who profit from scams on their platforms will not take enough action against fraudsters unless they are legally compelled to do so.”
Deltapoll carried out the survey of fraud victims in June.
A spokesperson for Meta told Which?: “Scammers are determined criminals who use increasingly sophisticated tactics to defraud people and evade detection on our platforms and across the internet.
“We fight scams on and off our platforms because they’re not good for us or the people and businesses that rely on our services.”
A spokesperson for Ofcom told the consumer group: “Combating online fraud is a priority for us, and we’re working at pace to implement new rules on paid-for fraudulent ads.”
The spokesperson said tech firms “don’t have to wait – they can start making improvements for their users now.
“Sites and apps that fail to meet their legal duties, once in force, can expect to face serious consequences.”