55% of those who have acted on social media financial advice have lost money

Of the 31% of people who have acted on financial advice on social media platforms, over half (55%) lost money as a result, according to new research from TSB. 

Following the FCA’s ongoing focus on finfluencers, TSB surveyed almost 2,000 people who use social media.
 
TSB found that over two-fifths (42%) of 16–24-year-olds reported having used social media to access financial advice in the past 12 months, followed by 37% of 25-34-year-olds, declining to 11% for over 55s.  

Of those that had seen financial advice on social media platforms, over half (53%) trusted the content – with 25-34-year-olds the most trusting (70%), followed by 62% of 16-24s, and just over a quarter (27%) of over 55s.  

In addition, over four fifths (83%) have seen financial advice content on social media that they weren’t searching for.

Just over half (51%) of respondents said they had either acted on advice or planned to do so – with 25-34s the most likely to act or have acted (73%), compared to just over a quarter (27%) of over 55s. 

Alarmingly, over half (55%) of those who acted on advice said they had lost money as a result. 

TSB found that nine in 10 (90%) had seen an investment opportunity on social media, and over two-fifths (43%) would consider investing as a result. 25-34-year olds were the most likely to invest (69%), followed by 16-24s (68%) – and just 18% of over 55s. 

However, over two-fifths (42%) said they did not know how to check the credibility or credentials of online content and offers. 

TSB’s internal customer data shows that over two-thirds (67%) of push payment investment fraud cases stem from social media platforms, which account for 71% of all investment fraud losses – at an average loss of £3,706 per case. 

Almost two-fifths (36%) of these social media cases started on Facebook, followed by TikTok (17%), Telegram (17%), Instagram (14%) and WhatsApp (14%). However, Facebook and WhatsApp accounted for by far the biggest losses at 36%, and 35% respectively. 

Polling also revealed that over two-fifths (43%) felt worse about their finances after seeing posts about wealth on social media. 16-24-year-olds felt the worst (67%), followed by 25-34s (61%) – and this reduced to just over a fifth (22%) of over 55s.   

Over half (53%) of 25-34-year-olds felt compelled to take out a product, or invest as a result; followed by almost half (49%) of 16-24s. Just 13% of over 55s felt the need to change behaviours and act.