The cardinal rule of the Internet is that if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Unfortunately, some still haven’t learned that lesson—and it clearly hasn’t stopped some of us from falling into traps, especially on social media.
Nearly 30% of people who reported losing money to a scam in 2025 said that it started on social media, according to the Federal Trade Commission. And last year, Americans lost a staggering $2.1 billion to social media scams—eight times more than in 2020.
The problem really proliferated during the start of the pandemic. In 2019, the FTC reported Americans experienced a record high of $134 million in losses due to social media scams. However, the first six months of 2020 alone saw nearly $117 million in losses. Since then, that number has exploded: Americans have lost billions from social media scams.
In 2025, website or app scams accounted for nearly a third of scams, losing Ameircans $1.1 billion. Scams over phone calls, email, and text accounted for about 28% of fraud reports and cost Americans $2.3 billion, a more than 20% increase than last year.
Meta apps like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp are the biggest targets by scammers: Facebook scams are the largest culprit by far, costing Americans $794 million last year. WhatsApp and Instagram scams were a distant second and third, costing Americans $425 million and $234 million, respectively.
What people are seeing online
Some of that may be due to what Americans are seeing advertised to them. According to a Reuters investigation from December, Meta raked in more than $18 billion from Chinese advertisers, and nearly a fifth of them were tied to scams, illegal gambling, pornography and other banned content. While Meta’s apps are blocked in the country, the Chinese government allows domestic companies to advertise to global consumers. Meta shows users as many as 15 billion “high-risk” scam ads per day, generating about $7 billion annually, Reuters reported.
“We aggressively combat scams across our platforms with strong default protections and advanced detection systems. Last year, we removed over 159 million scam ads and reduced how often people reported scam ads per ad view by over 55%,” a Meta spokesperson told Fortune in a statement.
“We’re continuing to invest in new technology—including tools to combat securities investment and celeb-bait scams—and now prohibit U.S. financial services ads from linking to messaging services. We also are expanding advertiser verification, and publish resources in our Scam Prevention Hub to help people spot and avoid scams.”
The FTC report shows Americans lost $1.1 billion to social media investment scams, which often begin as an offer to teach people how to invest. Shopping scams were the most reported scheme, with more than 40% of people reporting that they lost money from ordering something from an ad.
One in three people who reported losing money to a job or business opportunity scam in 2025 said it started on social media. And nearly 60% of people who reported losing money to romance scams said it began on social media.
To protect against scams, the FTC advises users to limit who can see their social media posts and contacts and never let someone they met online to direct their investment choices. They also advise researching a company alongside the terms “scam” or “complaint” before making a purchase.