MASSIVE LOSS

Americans Lost Billions to Social Media Scams in Recent Years, FTC Says

Social media scams represented a higher level of fraud than any other form of contact.

Americans reported an astounding $2.7 billion in losses from social media scams since 2021, the Federal Trade Commission said in a report issued Friday. That amount—representing only the fraud reported to the FTC—is believed to represent only a fraction of the actual fraud perpetrated during that time. Social media scam losses represented a higher level of fraud than any other form of contact, with website and app fraud raking in $2 billion in that time and mail fraud bringing in a mere $200 million. Most of the social media fraud in the first half of 2023 came in the form of undelivered goods, the FTC said, with such fraud most commonly originating on Instagram or Facebook.