You’re less safe online than you think
Fraudsters are targeting us online through fake reviews and scam ads. And the problem is growing.
Over 400,000 people in the UK lost £2.3bn to scams in the year to April – an increase of 33% on the previous year, according to Action Fraud.
Almost 1 in 10 of us have fallen victim to scam ads on social media or a search engine, according to Which? research carried out in 2020.
At the same time fake customer reviews are hoodwinking us into buying billions of pounds worth of poor quality and unsafe products online.
Consumers are more than twice as likely to choose poor-quality products after being exposed to fake reviews, Which? research found in 2020.
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While at the same time, two thirds of the 250 products purchased from online marketplaces failed safety tests, an investigation by Which? and other European consumer groups found in 2019
Make tech giants take responsibility
Tech giants aren’t doing enough to stop fake reviews, dodgy products and scams proliferating on their sites. They seem to be demonstrating a lack of regard for your safety and wellbeing online.
Latest advice: how to stay safe shopping online >
And with more and more of us shopping online – 9 in 10 of us use online marketplaces to shop – user safety on these platforms is of growing importance.
If big tech companies can build tracking and face recognition technology to track and monitor us, they could build systems to protect us. They have the resources to stamp out scams and fake reviews – but have so far failed to do so.
And not everyone sees the risks.
Almost half (42%) of people could not identify a scam advert on social media, according to Which? research carried out in 2020. And a quarter did not recognise an advert with a fake celebrity endorsement that led to an investment scam.
Tech giants must do the right thing and protect us from scams, fake reviews and dangerous products on their sites.
Sign the petition to make tech giants protect us online.
