Social media helps you stay connected with family and friends — and hordes of scam artists connect with you.
About a quarter of all financial losses from fraud reported to the Federal Trade Commission in 2021 — or roughly $770 million — stemmed from online scams originating on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and others. That’s an 18-fold increase in the number losses related to social media fraud since 2017, according to the agency.
Over 95,000 victims — more than twice the number in 2020 — said they lost money after falling prey to a deceptive ad, post or message they received on a messaging, photo-sharing or similar app.
Investment scams accounted for the biggest chunk of dollars lost, with payment made in cryptocurrency in 64% of these cases, the FTC said this week. Romance ripoffs are rampant, too, with 24% of funds lost in scams last year going to strangers who sweet-talked their targets into sending them money.
Undelivered goods
The greatest number of scams stemmed from shopping, in which consumers purchased a product from a store they discovered on social media only never to receive the item. In most cases, fraudulent sellers impersonated legitimate retailers. Most victims in these schemes paid for the non-existent goods using cryptocurrency, according to the FTC.
Given the “huge surge” in people losing money to fraudsters who target them through apps, the consumer watchdog described social media as a…
