Social media scams cost Americans more than $2.1 billion last year, according to the FTC

A digital concept image of a scam warning on a phone against a yellow background.

Social media scams caused Americans to lose $2.1 billion in 2025, according to a new report from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The agency says that's an eightfold increase since 2020.

Of all the people who reported scams to the FTC in 2025, nearly 30% said the con started on social media. Meta-owned social media platforms dominated the scams, with Facebook claiming a majority of them. WhatsApp and Instagram were a "distant" second and third.