SCOTS have registered sharp rise in disillusionment with social networks such as Facebook, the travel industry and digital inclusion since the start of the coronavirus crisis, a national study has found.

A third (32%) of people in Scotland have said they have lost trust in social media networks since the start of the pandemic.

The consumer organisation Which's annual Consumers in Scotland report said this this might be due to "deep unease" about how people’s personal data is collected and used, but may also reflect a "failure" to protect users from exposure to online harms.

The analysis has uncovered Scotland's deepest consumer concerns during the pandemic.

And it found that Scottish in social media networks and the travel industry has plunged lower than the rest of the UK, after a year of Covid scams and travel disruption.

Two thirds (68%) of Scottish consumers are now concerned about the security of the data they share online and more than half (56%) are worried about being targeted by scammers.

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The report also revealed that Scots have been hit hard by broadband problems while the pandemic has focussed people's attention on the quality of connections.

Some 44% of Scottish consumers said they sometimes or often have reliability problems with their broadband.

The study found that this may be related to the availability of high-quality connections as Scotland "lags behind" England and Northern Ireland in the proportion of premises that can receive ultrafast or better.

It said a greater problem may be the slow adoption of higher-quality connections by consumers. Gigabit-capable broadband ould deliver faster speeds and a more reliable service, but only a third (33%) of Scottish consumers intend to switch to this as they either don’t understand how it is different or don’t believe it will bring them sufficient benefit.

A third (34%) of Scots said they had lost trust in airlines and holiday operators since last year, significantly more than the UK average (29%).

And just six per cent of people in Scotland said they trusted the travel industry more since the outbreak.

The consumer organisation said that lost trust in airlines and holiday companies is likely to be linked to travellers’ difficulties in obtaining refunds for cancelled holidays, as levels of trust were higher among consumers who had received swift refunds.

In November it was revealed that across the UK more than £8 billion worth of package holidays are estimated to have been cancelled since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, with just over £1 billion still estimated to be outstanding in refunds.

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Which? also asked Scottish consumers about their views on the issues that new consumer body Consumer Scotland should prioritise when it comes into action later this year.

The most common popular suggestions were ensuring fair treatment of consumers by utility companies, protecting consumers from scams, protecting them from misuse of their personal data, and protecting consumers from unsafe products.

Rocio Concha, director of policy and advocacy at Which?, said: “These latest figures are a damning indictment of the behaviour of many airlines and holiday companies since the start of pandemic.

“With many Scottish customers being told to either wait months for their money back or accept a voucher that may prove worthless if a company fails, it should come as a surprise to no-one that trust has plummeted so drastically.

“The lower levels of trust among Scottish consumers across many industries compared to the rest of the UK highlights the important role for Consumer Scotland. It is important that this new consumer body sets out its priorities quickly.”

Recent research found that almost one in 10 Scots (9%) have fallen victim to online scam ads via social media sites, as platforms fail to tackle a flood of bogus ads posted by fraudsters.

The consumer champion is now calling for the UK government to give social media giants greater legal responsibility for preventing scam content from appearing on their sites.

Dependence on home broadband has inevitably increased as more people have relied on this for shopping, communication with friends and family, entertainment and working from home.

And more than a quarter (28%) of Scottish consumers learnt to do new administrative tasks such as banking and utility management online because of the crisis.

The consumer organisation said that these trends mean that more people are now taking advantage of the opportunities that online services can offer, but there is also greater potential harm from issues such as online scams and fake online reviews, and there are concerns that some consumers may lose out from the switch to conducting more of life online.

For example, in Scotland, nearly one in five said they found it difficult to do administrative tasks online, which the report said highlights that digital inclusion requires both internet access and the skills to use it And some 14% of people want to switch to completing such tasks offline as soon as possible, but may be unable to do so if the pandemic leads to a loss of supply of physical services, such as bank branches.

The other trend that has been accelerated by the pandemic is the switch away from cash to digital payments.

Some in three in four (76%( of Scottish consumers have replaced some or all of their usual cash use with card or mobile payments.

But cash remains a vital payment method for many.

Only 4% of Scottish consumers say they never use cash, 82% like to keep cash on them in case electronic payments are down, and 44% say they are more in control of their finances when they use cash.

"It is therefore essential that the cash network is protected during the crisis. However, it is suffering from the twin threat of reduced access to cash and reduced acceptance by retailers," warned Which?