Overview
- The FTC, in a Monday report, said nearly 30% of people who lost money last year were first contacted on a social platform.
- Scammers use targeted ads, hijacked or fake profiles, and details from public posts to tailor pitches by age, interests, and shopping habits.
- Reports showed Facebook accounted for the most losses, with WhatsApp and Instagram a distant second and third.
- Investment schemes cost about $1.1 billion, while shopping cons were the most reported and more than 40% involved buying from an ad, and nearly 60% of romance fraud reports started on social sites.
- Meta said it removed over 159 million scam ads and 10.9 million accounts in 2025 and rolled out new warnings, while the FTC urged people to tighten privacy settings, ignore investment pitches from strangers, and research sellers before buying.