Consumers lost $2.1 billion to social media scams in 2025, FTC reports - BERITAJA

Americans mislaid $2.1 cardinal to societal media scams successful 2025, according to a new report from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The agency reports that losses from societal media scams person accrued eightfold, and that societal media scams resulted successful higher losses than immoderate different method scammers utilized to interaction consumers.

Nearly 30% of group who reported losing money to scams said the schemes began connected societal media. More group reported losing money to scams that originated connected Facebook than connected immoderate different societal media platform, pinch WhatsApp and Instagram ranking a distant 2nd and third. Additionally, group reported losing acold much money to scams connected Facebook unsocial than they reported losing to matter aliases email scams.

FTC’s information shows that societal media scams return galore forms, including shopping scams, which were the about reported type of societal media scam past year. Over 40% of group who mislaid money to societal media scams said they ordered an point they saw successful an ad, ranging from clothing and cosmetics to car parts and moreover puppies. Many of these ads led to unfamiliar websites, while others sent group to clone sites for well-known brands that claimed to connection large discounts.

Another communal type of societal media scam involves finance schemes that statesman pinch ads aliases posts offering to thatch group really to invest. Other scammers airs arsenic friends advisors aliases create WhatsApp groups filled pinch clone testimonials. These types of finance scams led to $1.1 cardinal successful losses.

Additionally, about 60% of group who reported losing money to a romance scam successful 2025 said it started connected a societal media platform. Scammers often tailor their transportation to lucifer a person’s floor plan and later invent a situation that requires money. Or, they casually connection finance proposal to lure them onto a clone finance platform.

The FTC advises that users could protect themselves from societal media scams by limiting who could spot their posts and contacts, ne'er allowing personification they met online to nonstop their finance decisions, and cautiously vetting products earlier making a acquisition by researching the institution and searching the sanction alongside the position “scam” aliases “complaint.”