Summary
- Social media caused $2.1B in 2025 scam losses—an eightfold rise since 2020.
- Top scams: investment “success” groups, fake shopping ads, tailored romance cons.
- Lock privacy, verify contacts with video, check links, and never pay via wire/gift/crypto.
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 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.
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The ‘success group’ investment trap
According to 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.
OS
Android
Developer
WhatsApp LLC
The rise of ‘impostor’ shopping ads
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.
Tailored romance scams
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.
How to protect yourself from scams in 2026
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 first is a simple one — lock down your privacy settings. The more a scammer knows about you, the easier it is to target you. If you haven’t checked your settings in a while, our complete guide to Facebook privacy will help you hide your personal data from predatory “friends.”
- The next tip is somewhat related. Verify everyone on your friends list with a video chat, and look out for signs of generative AI. Even close friends can have their accounts hacked at a moment’s notice, or pretend to create a new account.
- Next — if you click on a link, don’t panic. You can use any of these reputable tools to check if a link is safe. Better to be safe than sorry!
- Finally, never pay for goods via wire transfer, gift cards or cryptocurrency. If you use these methods, it’s much harder to recover you money. Always use a credit card or a reputable service with buyer protection.
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.
