Americans lose $2.1 billion to Facebook scams, an eightfold jump since 2020
Data from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) shows that, in 2025, Americans lost over $2.1 billion to scams that, in most instances, started on social media. This is an eightfold increase since 2020.
The damage caused by social media scams is significantly higher compared to other contact methods used by scammers to reach victims. About 30% of people who reported losses last year said that it started via social media.
People reported more money lost to scams that started on Facebook than on any other social media platform. According to FTC researchers, Facebook caused approximately $749 million in damages, with WhatsApp ($425 million) and Instagram ($234 million) ranking a distant second and third.
Other social media platforms, including Telegram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and X, were responsible for a total of $330 million in damages.
“Social media can be a great way to connect, but can also make a scammer’s job easier. At very little cost, scammers can reach billions of people from anywhere in the world,” the competition supervisor said in response to these findings.
Social media scams come in all sorts of forms, the FTC argues. These include:
- Investment scams: These scams often start with an ad or post offering a program to teach you how to invest. Other scammers pose as friendly advisers or share fake testimonials.
- Shopping scams: More than 40% of people who lost money to a scam on social media reported that they ordered something they saw in a social media ad, ranging from clothes and cosmetics to car parts and even puppies.
- Romance scams: Over 60% of people who reported losing money to a romance scam in 2025 said it started on a social media platform. Scammers often tailor their pitch based on people’s profiles, later inventing a crisis requiring money, or casually offering investment advice to draw them onto a fake investment platform, the FTC argues.
- People looking for jobs and housing: These increasingly common scams are a problem as well. One in three people who reported losing money to a job or business opportunity scam in 2025 said it started on social media.
To steer potential victims clear of scams on social media, the FTC recommends limiting the number of people who can see their posts and contacts on social media. Also, they should never let someone they met on social media get involved in their investment decisions.
Lastly, people should be careful about what they buy based on social media ads. Instead, they should do their own research and check whether the company exists, whether the deal is too good to be true, and whether the seller is involved in scams.
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