Social Media Scams Cost Americans $2.1 Billion in 2025 - CNET

Our gifting experts are obsessively searching for holiday gifts that are unique, thoughtful and suitable for any budget. Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. If you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Facebook was the most popular platform for social media scammers, the FTC reports. Americans lost $2.1 billion to social media scams in 2025, an eightfold increase since 2020, according to a report released Monday by the Federal Trade Commission. Nearly 30% of Americans who reported being a victim of a scam last year said the scam originated on social media, with Facebook most frequently being identified as the social media platform where the scam originated, according to the report. Fellow Meta-owned platforms WhatsApp and Instagram were ranked a distant second and third, the FTC said. “In 2025, people reported losing far more money to scams on Facebook alone than they reported losing to text or email scams,” the commission said. Scams originating on Facebook cost people $794 million in 2025, while WhatsApp and Instagram combined for $659 million in losses. Meta said it uses strong default protec