Revolut: Firms Must Take Action After a 233% Spike in Fraud

Revolut has published its latest Consumer Security and Financial Crime Report, in which in reveals that Telegram, the instant messaging network, has emerged as the fastest-growing source of Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud anywhere in the world economy.

Elsewhere, Meta's applications – Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp – account for 44% of reported scams.

While this proportion is far higher than Telegram's 20%, what is remarkable is the speed at which fraud cases have multiplied on Telegram.

Revolut's study shows that instances of fraud originating on Telegram surged by an eye-watering 233% since these statistics were last measured.

But why? Criminals are reportedly exploiting the platform’s private nature to scale deceptions at pace, marking a clear departure from previous years.

To combat this, Revolut is calling for more data-sharing between firms in the UK, which it believes will help to reduce fraud.

The rise of encrypted deception

The data reported to Revolut presents a clear shift in criminal trends, from traditional social networks to encrypted messaging platforms. 

Currently, fraud originating from Telegram accounts for a fifth of all reported scams (20%). While the platform’s encryption is marketed as a security feature, it provides bad actors the opportunity to practice fraud away from prying eyes.

Meanwhile, the report finds that 58% of all job scams globally now originate from Telegram. 

While TikTok's total volume of fraud is still low compared to older platforms, it has seen a significant shift in activity. Specifically, the report states that the percentage of scams originating on the app has increased sixfold year-on-year.

Revolut also claims that Purchase Scams remain “relatively constant”, claiming to be the most common scam type. The most prevalent threat to UK customers was seen to be purchase scams that account for 54.9% of all reported cases. 

Threatening to catch up are job scams, as Revolut sees a threefold year-on-year increase globally. Job scams now represent 22% of all scam cases, according to the report. 

Financial incentives for platforms

The Revolut report, conducted by Juniper Research, found that social media platforms generated an estimated £3.8bn (US$5.1bn) in revenue from fraudulent advertisements targeting European users in 2025 alone.

Simultaneously, UK Finance reports that APP fraud volumes increased by 17% in the first half of 2025  since the introduction of the mandatory reimbursement regime in the UK. 

“The rapid rise of scams stemming from Telegram shows how quickly criminal tactics adapt" says Woody Malouf, Revolut’s Head of Financial Crime.

"Revolut is processing billions of data points to stay ahead, but the digital ecosystem is only as strong as its weakest link. We need social media companies to step up. Protecting users must be a shared priority across the entire industry, including the platforms where these scams are born.”

Demanding sector-wide accountability

Against this backdrop, and ahead of the Government’s upcoming Fraud Strategy, Revolut calls for a legal requirement for online platforms to participate in data sharing schemes or face enforcement action, with further legal or regulatory measures explored if meaningful reduction in fraud is not achieved by the largest enablers.

To mitigate these threats, nearly one third of the company’s total workforce now works in financial crime prevention. 

Revolut has introduced initiatives such as the Scam Buster Bot, which uses conversational data to predict likely scam types, and Street Mode, which allows users to set trusted locations for transactions. The firm also recently hosted the inaugural Revolut FinCrime Summit, bringing together 150 partners and regulators to share insights on the global fight against financial crime.