A preferred UK financial institution has issued a warning after reporting a steep rise in rip-off instances on the social media platform Telegram.
Financial institution with 12 million UK clients points warning (Picture: Getty)
A preferred on-line financial institution has issued a stark warning to clients amid a speedy improve in social media rip-off makes an attempt. Scammers are at all times discovering new and ingenious methods to defraud folks of their cash, and one of the crucial latest includes a cellular messaging service that many use on their telephones and different gadgets. Social media platform Telegram has turn out to be the fastest-growing breeding floor for monetary scams, Revolut has revealed in its 2026 Shopper Safety and Monetary Crime Report.
The report discovered that fraud instances originating on the messaging app surged by a staggering 233% within the UK final yr. It experiences that many customers consider the app’s encryption retains them protected, however the financial institution has warned that criminals are weaponising that privateness to evade detection whereas focusing on victims. The report states that fraud from Telegram now accounts for 20% of all reported scams. In the meantime, job scams have tripled, however buy scams stay the most typical within the UK, accounting for 57% of reported scams in 2025.
Revolut has grown massively within the UK (Picture: Getty)
The info displays complete instances within the UK, not simply Revolut customers. Telegram was recognized because the fastest-growing supply of Authorised Push Cost (APP) fraud. Telegram is a free, cloud-based immediate messaging app just like WhatsApp. It is utilized by round 14% of web customers within the UK, though it is far more well-liked in different European international locations.
These scams additionally seem on platforms like WhatsApp, Fb and different Meta-owned social media websites in addition to TikTok. Authorised Push Cost (APP) fraud includes criminals utilizing electronic mail or different messages to induce victims to make funds.
They’ll typically ship messages pretending to be from a financial institution, an official establishment or a trusted enterprise. Revolut says its findings present a transparent transfer by criminals “from conventional social networks to encrypted messaging platforms”.
It additionally experiences that 2025 noticed a startling development in job scams globally, rising roughly thrice yr on yr, now representing 22% of all rip-off instances.
Moreover, the examine discovered that social media platforms generated an estimated £3.8bn in income from fraudulent ads focusing on European customers in 2025. Revolut is now calling for extra accountability from on-line platforms.
Revolut’s head of economic crime, Woody Malouf, stated: “The speedy rise of scams stemming from Telegram exhibits how shortly legal ways adapt. Revolut is processing billions of knowledge factors to remain forward, however the digital ecosystem is simply as robust as its weakest hyperlink. We’d like social media corporations to step up.
“Defending customers should be a shared precedence throughout the whole trade, together with the platforms the place these scams are born.”
Revolut, which has grown in reputation within the UK amassing greater than 13 million clients, provides recommendations on methods to spot rip-off texts. The financial institution reminds clients that it’ll by no means ship a message saying that it has noticed fraudulent exercise. These are rip-off texts, they usually typically name for the recipient to take pressing motion.
The financial institution may even by no means ship clients a hyperlink to a web site and ask you to offer delicate info, akin to a password, telephone quantity or your PIN.
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Should you obtain a rip-off message pretending to be from Revolut, the financial institution suggests deleting the message and blocking the quantity. In the meantime, if you happen to obtain an surprising name from somebody claiming to work for Revolut and asking you to offer private and delicate info or asking you to click on on a hyperlink in a textual content, you must grasp up the telephone and block the quantity.
Those that obtain any type of rip-off message is requested to report it as the federal government rolls out its Cease! Assume Fraud marketing campaign. This will merely be completed by forwarding textual content messages freed from cost to 7726.
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