Social media users are becoming ever more adept at spotting scams, but many still need to remain alert, an exclusive TechRadar Pro study has found.
Firstly, respondents were asked what social media platforms they used. Facebook came out on top with just under 80% being active on the networking site. Instagram was next with 68.1%, and Tiktok and Twitter were closely contested for third place with just under 50% apiece using them (49.8% and 47.5% respectively).
LinkedIn and WhatsApp rounded out the last two of the mainstream platforms, with 35.8% and 33.4% respectively. 6.6% said they used other social media platforms to these, with 3.7% using none at all.
Scam spotting
The results for how often scams were encountered on social media platforms were pretty evenly split. Just over a third came across them once a day, and just over a quarter said once a week. Only 15% said once a month, and under a third said less than a month.
Scams on social media platforms have been on the rise since the pandemic, reaching a peak in 2021, and remaining prominent this year as well. Unsurprisingly, prime sales periods, such as Black Friday and the festive season, often see an increase in the perpetration of scams.
Thankfully, most felt confident or very confident – 30.9% and 34.4% respectively – that they could identify them. A quarter said they were a little bit, and only 10% said they were not very.
That confidence may be misplaced, however, given that other reports have shown a fair amount…
