Members of TSB’s fraud team sampled 100 Facebook Marketplace posts on their feed - including cars, watches, games consoles, air fryers and handbags - and engaged with the seller to determine whether the items were genuinely for sale, or scams.

The study concluded that 34 percent of the listings were fraudulent once the seller used tactics known to be commonly used by purchase fraud criminals. For instance, sellers deemed to be scammers directed TSB fraud experts to fake websites; refused to allow viewing of an item in person and demanded advanced fees. TSB also discovered items advertised as ‘brand new’, for hundreds of pounds less than their real retail price.

The findings chime with the excessive fraud rate from Facebook Marketplace, which currently accounts for 73 percent of all purchase fraud cases at TSB - and remains the biggest driver of fraud by volume. TSB’s calculations show that £60m could have been lost by customers of all banks via Facebook Marketplace in 2023, amounting to a daily fraud count of £160,000.

Matt Hepburn, fraud spokesperson, TSB, says: “You wouldn’t shop at a supermarket if a third of the items were stale or counterfeit - so the same should apply to Facebook Marketplace, where you have a one in three chance of being scammed when paying online."

In November, Eleven Big Tech firms and social media platforms signed up to a UK Online Fraud Charter to combat rising levels of scams from fake adverts and romance fraud, pledging to verify new advertisers and "promptly" remove any fraudulent content.

Says Hepburn: “Social media companies really must act on their commitments under the government’s Online Fraud Charter by urgently clearing up their platforms - removing scam adverts is a good first test.”