Social media scams: Facebook, Instagram and messaging apps

What are the most common social media scams?

Social media is now the costliest way scams begin. In 2025, nearly 30% of people who told the FTC they lost money to a scam said it started on social media, and their reported losses reached $2.1 billion. That is far more than for any other way scammers made contact, and about eight times the 2020 figure.

The FTC’s data points to a few big groups:

• Shopping scams were the most reported. More than 40% of people who lost money on social media said it started with an ad.
• Investment scams caused the biggest losses, $1.1 billion, more than half the total.
• Romance scams often begin there: nearly 60% of people who lost money to a romance scam in 2025 said it started on social media.
• Job and rental scams. One in three people who lost money to a job or business-opportunity scam said it started on social media, and an analysis of fake rental listings found about half were posted on Facebook.

According to the FTC, people reported losing more money to scams that started on Facebook than on any other platform in 2025, with WhatsApp and Instagram a distant second and third. Read our full guide to Facebook scams.

How do fake ads and shops work?

Scammers buy ads just like real businesses do, and the FTC notes that this gives them the same tools to target people by age, interests or shopping habits. The ad may lead to an unfamiliar website or to a copycat of a well-known brand offering a huge discount.

Most people who reported these scams said the item simply never arrived. When something did come, it was often a counterfeit or very different from the ad, and returning it cost too much to be worth it.

Before you buy from an ad, check that the company is real and that the deal appears on its official site. Search the company name plus “scam” or “complaint,” and pay by credit card so you can dispute the charge. Our guide to checking if a website is legit shows what to look for.

Investment “coaches” are another kind of ad. The FTC says these scams often start with a post offering to teach you to invest, or with a group chat full of “successful investors” whose testimonials are fake. They lead to fake trading platforms that show profits you can never withdraw.

What should you do if a friend’s account messages you for money?

Assume the account has been hacked until you hear otherwise. The FTC says one sign of a hacked account is friends getting messages they didn’t send, sometimes with links or fake pleas for help or money.

• Don’t send money, gift cards or codes, and don’t click links in the message.
• Contact your friend another way. Call them, or text the number you already have.
• If they were hacked, let them know so they can recover the account and warn others.

How do you protect your own account?

A few settings make a big difference:

1. Turn on two-factor authentication so a stolen password isn’t enough to get in.
2. Use a strong, unique password for each account.
3. Limit who sees your posts and friends list. The FTC says this gives scammers less to work with.
4. Keep your recovery email and phone number current, so you can get back in if something goes wrong.
5. Never let someone you met online direct your investments.

If your account is taken over, follow the platform’s own recovery steps, which you reach by typing the site’s address yourself. After you’re back in, the FTC advises changing your password, signing out of all devices, turning on two-factor authentication and telling your contacts.

What should you do if you lost money to a social media scam?

Act fast. The FTC says to contact the company or bank you used to pay right away and ask them to stop or reverse the payment, then report the scam at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Also report the account or ad on the platform. For scams that start in messaging apps, see WhatsApp scams. Our first-hour checklist after a scam covers each payment method, where to report a scam lists every agency that takes reports, and if you bought from a fake shop, see how to report a scam website.