According to a report from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), $2.7bn (£2.2bn) were reportedly lost to social media scams since 2021 in the US, higher than any other method of contact. 

According to the FTC’s report, one in four victims of scams stated that they encountered their fraudster on social media, and is particularly common among younger demographics. In the first half of 2023, 38% of fraud reports from victims between the ages of 20 and 29 cited social media as the initial point of contact, jumping all the way to 47% for individuals aged 18 to 19. 

The most commonly reported type of loss was linked to attempts to buy items advertised on social media apps, which accounted for 44% of all reported losses. This usually looked like victims purchasing items from ads for items that don’t even exist. 

While not as common as shopping scams, the biggest financial losses came from fake investment opportunities on social media, which accounted for more than half of the reported losses to fraud in the first half of 2023. 

This trend is consistent with the UK, where the British bank Barclays found that almost nine out of ten purchase scams start on social media. The bank says that on average, Brits lose £1,000 to these kinds of scams, which account for two-thirds of all reported scams. 

Following investment scams, the second highest losses came from romance scams, where victims are lured into sending money to an online romance, usually through Instagram, Snapchat or Facebook.

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According to security analysts from Bitdefender, most victims don’t actually report their experience, so the actual numbers are likely much higher. 

“Social media gives scammers an edge in several ways,” said Emma Fletcher, senior researcher with the FTC. 

“They can easily manufacture a fake persona, or hack into your profile, pretend to be you, and con your friends. They can learn to tailor their approach from what you share on social media. And scammers who place ads can even use tools available to advertisers to methodically target you based on personal details, such as your age, interests, or past purchases. All of this costs them next to nothing to reach billions of people from anywhere in the world.”