Email and social media hacking: how to keep safe

Email and social media hacking: how to keep safe

Switch to passkeys: Report Fraud warning as email and social media account hacking sums stolen rise by more than 400 per cent.

Reported stolen sums from email and social media account hacking rose in the 2025/26 financial year to £6.3 million, up from £1.2 million in 2024/25. In Lincolnshire alone, there were 421 reports of this type of fraud.

Hacking, in the context of online accounts, refers to criminals gaining unauthorised access someone’s email, social media, or other online account to commit further fraudulent activity such as impersonating the account owner to defraud family and friends by asking for money or offering fake tickets. One of the most common themes identified from reports is compromised accounts being used to impersonate family members and friends.

Protect yourself from being hacked:

Use passkeys wherever they are available. They are more secure and easier to use.

Where passkeys are unavailable, use strong passwords, for example generated by a password manager.
You should also enable 2 Step-Verification if you can.

Who has access to the content you’re posting? Make sure your privacy settings are configured so that it’s only visible to the people you want to see it, for example only your friends.

Beware of sharing personal details online: try not to share too many personal details that a fraudster could use to build a picture of you. They can use facts, such as your birthday, where you live, family relationships or pet names to steal your identity or make their fraud more convincing.

If you are contacted by someone you know via social media or email: don’t automatically trust that person is who you think they are. Contact them through another route, such as in person, by sending an SMS or phoning them.

For anyone who has already been hacked:

If you have been hacked, tell Report Fraud by making a report at www.reportfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 123 2040.

The UK’s National Cyber Security centre has published guidance explaining what you can do to minimise the damage, and how you can regain access to your accounts. You can find this here: www.ncsc.gov.uk/guidance/recovering-a-hacked-account

Reply to this message

Message Sent By
Lincolnshire Police Comms Team