Americans lost at least $2.1 billion in 2025 to scams that originated on social media, according to the Federal Trade Commission. That figure marks an eightfold increase since 2020.
The FTC said Americans reported losing $1.1 billion last year to investment scams that started on social media. These often began with a post or ad offering a program that claimed to help people learn how to invest. More than 40 percent of Americans who lost money through a social media scam last year blamed shopping-related ads, many of which took them to “unfamiliar websites,” the FTC said. The agency also highlighted the problem of romance scams that start on social media.
Most of these scams started on Facebook, with WhatsApp and Instagram in “a distant second and third,” the FTC noted. A lawsuit filed against Meta, which owns all three platforms, last week claimed that it misled users about scam ads. In 2025, it was reported that Meta was making billions of dollars from ads promoting scams and illegal products.
Of course, other types of internet scams are snaring regular folks. The FBI said earlier this month that Americans reported losing nearly $21 billion to internet-related crimes in 2025, more than half of which was to cryptocurrency scams. Artificial intelligence scams cost Americans around $893 million last year, the FBI said. And that’s just what people have reported losing — many victims won’t file complaints to the FBI or FTC.
The FTC offers some advice on how to protect yourself from social media scams, such as limiting the reach of your posts so scammers have less specific information to work with and to avoid letting “someone you have met only on social media direct your investment decisions.” The agency also suggests searching for a company’s name along with “scam” or “complaint” before buying anything.
As always, tread cautiously, do your own research and if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Be careful out there, folks.
