New FTC data published Monday show that nearly 30% of all reported scam losses last year began on social media. Investment scams alone cost $1.1 billion. Shopping scams were the most frequently reported.
Romance scams started on social media in 60% of reported cases. All age groups except the over-80s lost more to social media scams than any other contact method.
The Federal Trade Commission published new data on Monday showing that Americans lost $2.1 billion to scams that originated on social media in 2025, an eightfold increase from 2020 and more than any other contact method scammers use to reach consumers.
Nearly 30% of people who reported losing money to a scam said the fraud began on a social media platform. Facebook generated more reported losses than any other platform, with WhatsApp and Instagram a distant second and third.
In 2025, people reported losing more money to scams that started on Facebook alone than to all text and email scams combined.
Investment scams were the most financially damaging category. People reported $1.1 billion in losses from investment scams originating on social media, more than half of the $2.1 billion total.
These schemes typically begin with an advertisement or post promising to teach profitable investing strategies, evolve into a “friendly adviser” relationship, and ultimately direct victims to fake investment platforms.
A variant uses WhatsApp or Facebook groups populated with apparent “successful investors” sharing fabricated testimonials to build false social proof before soliciting investment.
Shopping scams were the most commonly reported type, accounting for more than 40% of social media scam reports. Victims typically said they ordered something they saw in a social media advertisement, clothing, cosmetics, car parts, and pets were the most frequently cited categories, and either received nothing, received a poor-quality imitation, or were directed to a website impersonating a well-known brand offering steep discounts.
The FTC noted that scammers use the same targeted advertising tools as legitimate businesses, using age, interest, and shopping data to identify the most likely victims for each category of fraud.
Romance scams are heavily concentrated on social media: nearly 60% of people who reported losing money to a romance scam in 2025 said it began on a social media platform.
Scammers study their targets’ profiles before making contact, tailoring their initial approach to match the target’s apparent interests and circumstances, and later fabricate crises requiring money or introduce fake investment opportunities as a secondary fraud within the relationship.
The $2.1 billion figure is a reported losses figure based on voluntary consumer reports to the FTC, a significant undercount of actual losses. The FTC has previously estimated that the overall cost of fraud to consumers may be as much as ten times higher than reported losses, because most fraud victims do not file a formal complaint.
Total reported fraud losses across all contact methods reached a record $15.9 billion in 2025, up from $12.5 billion in 2024, with investment scams across all channels accounting for $7.9 billion or approximately half the total.
The $2.1 billion social media figure represents roughly 13% of total reported fraud losses, making it the largest single origination channel despite that relatively concentrated share.
The FTC’s data also breaks down losses by age. All age groups except those 80 and over reported losing more money to scams that started on social media than to any other contact method.
For the over-80s, phone calls remain the top method by reported losses, social media ranks second. The prevalence of social media as the top fraud origination channel across all other age groups reflects both the platform penetration statistics and the increasingly sophisticated targeting capabilities available to fraudsters, who can buy targeted advertising access to specific demographic segments at low cost.
