A new report from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has found that Americans lost $2.1 billion in 2025 to scams that began on social media. Nearly 30% of people who reported losing money to a scam said it started on social media, far outpacing other modes of contact.
“Social media scams produced far more in losses—an eightfold increase since 2020—than any other contact method used by scammers to reach consumers, according to the new data,” the FTC says. “The Data Spotlight notes that social media creates easy access to billions of people from anywhere in the world, making a scammer’s job easier at very little cost. Scammers may hack a user’s account, exploit what a user posts to figure out how to target them, or buy ads and use the same tools used by real businesses to target people by age, interests, or shopping habits.”
The FTC says the majority of these scams began on Facebook, leading to around $794 million in losses.
“Reports show that in 2025, people reported losing more money to scams that started on Facebook than on any other social media platform,” the FTC says. “WhatsApp and Instagram were a distant second and third. In 2025, people reported losing far more money to scams on Facebook alone than they reported losing to text or email scams.”
The FTC notes that this data only includes losses that were reported, so the actual numbers are likely much higher. The Commission offers the following advice to help users avoid falling for scams:
- “Limit who can see your posts and contacts on social media. Visit your privacy settings to set some restrictions so scammers have less to work with.
- “Never let someone you have met only on social media direct your investment decisions. Instead, learn more about spotting investment scams.
- “Before you buy, check out the company. Search online for its name plus ‘scam’ or ‘complaint’”
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The FTC has the story: New FTC Data Show People Have Lost Billions to Social Media Scams
