"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."
"Americans lost a staggering $2.1 billion to social media scams-eight times more than in 2020, with the problem proliferating during the start of the pandemic."
"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."
"Meta shows users as many as 15 billion 'high-risk' scam ads per day, generating about $7 billion annually, according to a Reuters investigation."
In 2025, nearly 30% of reported scam losses originated from social media, totaling $2.1 billion. The pandemic exacerbated this issue, with losses skyrocketing from $134 million in 2019 to nearly $117 million in the first half of 2020. Website and app scams accounted for a third of fraud, costing $1.1 billion. Meta platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp were major targets, with Facebook alone responsible for $794 million in losses. Meta's advertising practices, including high-risk scam ads, contributed to the problem.
Read at Fortune
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