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Social Media Scams Cost Americans $2.1 Billion in 2025
FTC data shows social media scams caused $2.1 billion in losses, with Facebook leading reported cases and investment schemes accounting for $1.1 billion.
- On Monday, the Federal Trade Commission reported that Americans lost $2.1 billion to social media scams in 2025, representing an eightfold increase since 2020.
- Fraudsters exploit social media's targeting tools to reach billions of people worldwide at minimal cost, using the same mechanisms legitimate businesses employ to target users by age, interests, and online activity.
- Facebook accounted for $794 million in losses, while WhatsApp and Instagram combined reached $629 million, with nearly 30% of scam victims reporting their schemes originated on social media.
- Meta responded by removing over 159 million scam ads and disabling over 10.9 million accounts linked to criminal operations in 2025, while introducing new anti-scam protections across Facebook, Messenger, and WhatsApp.
- Investment scams led to $1.1 billion in losses, while nearly 60% of romance scams and over 40% of shopping fraud began on social media; the FTC advises limiting privacy settings and vetting companies before purchase.
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41 Articles
41 Articles
Americans lost $2.1 billion to social media scams last year, 8 times more than in 2020. Facebook alone cost users more than texts and emails combined
More than two-thirds of the total amount lost came from Meta-owned apps, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
·New York, United States
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In six years, the amount of money lost by citizens trapped by various frauds on Facebook and other platforms has increased eightfold, according to the latest report of the Federal Trade Commission.
·Paris, France
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Social media scams caused over two billion dollars in losses to consumers last year
FTC data shows consumers lost $2.1 billion to social media scams in 2025, with Facebook driving the highest reported losses and investment, shopping, and romance scams leading the damage.
·United States
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Total News Sources41
Leaning Left3Leaning Right3Center7Last UpdatedBias Distribution54% Center
Bias Distribution
- 54% of the sources are Center
54% Center
L 23%
C 54%
R 23%
Factuality
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