Most people picture a scam as a phone call, but reports to the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) point elsewhere. In April 2026 the FTC published a Data Spotlight analysing the 2025 reports in its Consumer Sentinel Network, and it found social media ahead of every other contact method for reported money lost. This guide summarises that analysis. The figures are US reports to the FTC, cover 2025, and are not UK statistics; for reporting routes in Britain, see the guide to where to report a scam in the UK. It is general information, not advice.
The headline figures
According to the FTC, nearly 30% of people who reported losing money to a scam in 2025 said it started on social media, and reported losses reached $2.1 billion. The FTC says this is far more than the losses reported for any other form of contact and about eight times the 2020 figure. The Spotlight’s notes give the yearly reported totals as $261 million in 2020, $789 million in 2021, $1.2 billion in 2022, $1.5 billion in 2023, $1.9 billion in 2024 and $2.1 billion in 2025.
Two cautions accompany these numbers. First, the FTC notes that most scams are never reported to the government, so real losses are likely much higher. Second, it says reports were not collected during the 2025 government shutdown. The FTC’s ranking of contact methods for reports involving a loss was: website or app (31%), social media (28%), phone call (11%), email (10%) and text (7%). By reported money lost, social media came first.
Why social media suits scammers
The FTC says scammers might hack an account to scam the account holder’s friends, create entirely fake profiles, or use what people post to work out how to target them. By buying ads, they get the same tools real businesses use to target people by age, interests or shopping habits, and at very little cost they can reach large audiences from anywhere in the world.
Which scams start there
- Shopping scams were the most reported type. More than 40% of people who lost money to a scam that started on social media said it began when they ordered something seen in an ad. The FTC says most people reported paying for things that never arrived, and where orders did show up they were often counterfeit or very different from the advert.
- Investment scams caused the biggest losses: $1.1 billion, more than half the money reported lost on scams that started on social media. The FTC describes ads or posts offering a program to teach investing, scammers posing as friendly advisers, and WhatsApp groups of “successful investors” sharing fake testimonials, leading to fake platforms showing fake profits. Some people also reported secondary losses to scammers offering to recover the money for a fee.
- Romance scams also thrive there. Nearly 60% of people who reported losing money to a romance scam in 2025 said it started on a social media platform, and the FTC reports $298 million lost to romance scams that originated on social media, a distant second to investment scams. It also mentions sextortion, where people are tricked into sending nude photos and then threatened.
- Job and housing scams: one in three people who reported losing money to a job or business opportunity scam said it started on social media, and an FTC analysis of fake rental listings found that about half were posted on Facebook.
The UK guides to social media and marketplace scams and investment and cryptocurrency scams cover the same patterns from a UK perspective.
Who reports losses
The FTC says social media was the most costly contact method in 2025 in terms of aggregate reported losses for every age group under 80, and second after phone calls for people aged 80 and over. Among loss reports, the share that involved social media was 40% for ages 18 to 29, about 32% for those aged 30 to 59, 29% for 60 to 69, 23% for 70 to 79 and 14% for 80 and over. Facebook accounted for more reported losses than any other platform, with WhatsApp and Instagram a distant second and third, and the FTC says the money reported lost to Facebook scams alone exceeded losses reported for text or email scams.
What the FTC advises
- Limit who can see posts and contacts by using privacy settings, so scammers have less to work with.
- Never let someone met on social media direct investment decisions.
- Before buying from an ad, check the company is real and search its name with the word “scam” or “complaint”.
- Report scams to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
The FTC’s rental-scam Spotlight adds that searching for a rental address online and finding it listed with different prices or contact details, or as a property for sale, is a warning sign.
Frequently asked questions
Does this mean social media is more dangerous than phone calls?
The FTC’s ranking is based on reports where a loss was indicated, and it says most scams go unreported. It shows where reported losses began, not the true total.
The bottom line
FTC data for 2025 puts social media at the top of reported scam losses in the US at $2.1 billion, driven by fake shops, investment schemes and romance scams. The figures are US reports and likely understate the problem. The FTC’s advice is to tighten privacy settings, never take investment direction from someone met online and check any advertiser before paying.