Social media scam-related losses surge, FTC report finds

TechCrunch reports that financial losses linked to social media scams were reported by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to have increased eightfold over time, exceeding losses attributed to other methods of fraud used by criminals to trick consumers.

The agency found that Americans lost $2.1 billion to social media-conducted scams in 2025 and nearly a third of victims who reported monetary loss said the scams originated from social media platforms. Across platforms, nearly 60% of individuals lost money through romance scams and over 40% were affected by online shopping scams that stem from fraudulent social media ads. Roughly $1.1 billion in reported losses were linked to investment scams.

Some of the tactics involved malicious posts advertising investing strategies, as well as scammers posing as advisors and forming groups with people with fabricated success stories. Facebook had the most reported losses, followed by WhatsApp and Instagram, but Facebook alone had greater reported losses compared with scams conducted through email or text messages combined.