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Once upon a time, social media was a place to post vacation photos, ‘poke’ your friends, and share unwise ‘checking in’ status updates. Today, it has become the costliest fraud contact method in existence, according to the data new data from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
The new report claims that, in 2025 alone, consumers lost a staggering $2.1 billion to social media scams — an eight fold increase since 2020.
Facebook was the primary platform where people reported losing more money to scams, over any other social media platform, or even the classic text or email scams. WhatsApp and Instagram were second and third.
The data also show that all age groups, except those 80 and over, reported losing more money to scams that started on social media than any other contact method. And social media ranked second after phone calls for those 80 and over.
Here is how to spot the three biggest threats in 2026, and how you can protect your digital (and physical) wallet.
Hackers are now using AI to make scams harder to detect and target more people.
according to the data the FDC, investment scams accounted for over half of all social media scams last year. That’s $1.1 billion. These ads often pop up with a “friendly” advisor offering you a guaranteed return on your investment, usually through group chats for “successful investors” on Facebook or WhatsApp, though of course not limited to these platforms.
Never let anyone you don’t know direct your investment decisions. Scammers often use fake testimonials to build trust. It’s a common tactic to add you to a group chat of fake AI bots, all waxing lyrical about their investment and how excited they are, so you feel a sense of FOMO and social pressure.
Shopping scams were the most reported type of fraud in 2025. More than 40% of victims said the scam started with an advert for something they actually wanted, but led to a fake website. Scammers are now impersonating well-known brands, such as clothing, makeup, and even puppies, by creating websites that look identical to the real thing, with massive discounts to boot. To avoid this, we recommend using tools to check if a website is safe before entering any payment data.
Nearly 60% of romance scams in 2025 originated on social media because scammers “tailor their pitch” based on the interests you list in your profile. In 2026, AI bots can run these automatically, creating an emotional connection that’s hard to ignore. Aside from locking down your social media accounts, you should learn the red flags of an online romance scammer to keep yourself safe.
Nowadays, the age-old advice of “if it’s too good to be true, it probably is” can be harder to parse, with the rise of fake AI products, high-tech fake websites and parasocial group chats. The FTC’s data proves that scammers succeed by exploiting the information we give them for free. However, there are some recommendations you should take on board.
The human cost of these scams is a loss of trust that can be harder to recover than the money itself. If it’s too good to be true, it probably is. By following these tips, you can enjoy social media without becoming another statistic in the FTC’s next report. If you do spot a scam, report it immediately to ReportFraud.ftc.gov.