Facebook scams surged as $794M in losses spark lawsuit against Meta
Facebook scams surged as $794M in losses spark lawsuit against Meta
Susan Tompor, USA TODAY NETWORKWed, May 6, 2026 at 10:05 AM UTC
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That great bargain you just spotted on social media? Well, proceed with caution before you pull out that credit card. The eye-catching ad might look legitimate, but many too-good-to-be true deals are nothing but scams.
Consumers reported losing $794 million to scams that started on Facebook in 2025 — far more than what was lost to scams that began on any other social media platform last year, according to new data.
In 2025, according to Federal Trade Commission data, people reported far more money lost to scams on Facebook alone than they reported losing to text or email scams.
The FTC reported in a Data Spotlight that WhatsApp came in second with $425 million reported lost and $234 million was reported lost to scams that started on Instagram according to consumers. Meta Platforms owns Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram.
Scammers thrive on social media
In all, consumers reported losses of $2.1 billion to scams where the initial point of contact was on all types of social media, according to the FTC. Social media was the top contact method by reported losses.
Two billion dollars is a lot of money, no matter how you slice it. But it's even more shocking when you consider that the losses shot up eight times the level in 2020. In 2020, consumers who said they connected with scammers on social media reported losing $261 million.
Crooks and con artists stole a record $15.9 billion in 2025 total in a variety of scams — up from $12.5 billion in 2024, according to the latest data from the FTC. The FTC noted that reports were not collected by the FTC during the 43-day federal government shutdown in the fall of 2025.
Most scams, including dollars lost, aren’t reported to the government, which according to the FTC means the real losses are likely much higher.
The Meta logo is pictured at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles in Paris on June 11, 2025.
Social media is the way to go because it's just so darn easy for scammers to pretend to be someone they aren't.
Some hack into your account to pretend to be you as a way to steal from your friends and family.
I wrote recently about the proliferation of Facebook account takeover scams where con artists pretend to be offering your unsuspecting friends great deals on Rolex watches and trucks once owned by your sick uncle.
Some victims easily lose $2,000 to $3,000 a pop when sending a down payment for an item that doesn't even exist. The reality: You might indeed have an uncle, but he isn't sick and he never owned a watch fancier than a Timex.
And then there are the fake ads for pretty dresses, cute gifts and more that are designed to steal cash and ID information.
More consumer protection: FBI warns of 'banking spoof call' scams. Here's how it works
Watchdog wants Meta to be a 'safer place'
The Consumer Federation of America filed a class action complaint in the District of Columbia in late April against Meta Platforms, the parent of Facebook, accusing Meta of failing to protect consumers from paid advertisements that prove to be scams.
The Consumer Federation of America is based in Washington, D.C., and the consumer protection law in the District of Columbia specifically allows such organizations to be the named plaintiff in a class action.
The goal is to force better practices from Meta, said Ben Winters, director of AI and Privacy for the Consumer Federation of America.
Winters told the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network, that the platform needs to be made a "safer place" where consumers face less threats from being targeted and bombarded with scam ads. Meta, he said, also needs to be held responsible for illegal behavior that so far hasn’t been remedied through legislation or promises.
"We also hope to learn more about their practices and bring transparency to a remarkably untransparent and inconsistent company," Winters said.
The consumer watchdog group charged that Meta promises users in the district that it is meaningfully fighting scams and removing scam content from its platform but instead has adopted policies and practices that it knows allow scam advertisements to proliferate on its platforms. Facebook, the group charges, simultaneously profits from those ads at the expense of its users.
"Meta claims it is doing all it can to crack down on scam advertising on its platforms," according to the class action complaint.
"But in reality, Meta has knowingly taken steps and adopted policies that pad its bottom line at the expense of its users’ safety and well-being. In fact, rather than prohibiting advertisers who the company itself has determined pose a higher risk to its users (as other tech companies like Google have), Meta just charges these advertisers more."
Winters told the Free Press that consumers also need to watch out for scammers that hide behind names of other companies.
"We see massive problems with shady groups selling old advertiser profiles that were formerly legitimate businesses being used to place scam ads," Winters said. Meta, he said, is not doing enough to protect consumers in these cases, too.
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Meta did not respond to the Detroit Free Press when asked about the lawsuit or losses.
In case you missed it: How AI has accelerated the scale and sophistication of fraud
How Meta is using AI to fight scams
In March, Meta issued a press release indicating that the tech giant is launching new tools on Facebook, Messenger and WhatsApp to help protect against scams.
"Scammers are constantly evolving their tactics — and so are we," according to Meta's news release issued in March.
"Every day, criminals use increasingly sophisticated measures to defraud people on our platforms and across the internet."
In 2025, Meta said it removed more than 159 million scam ads for violating its policies, and took down 10.9 million accounts on Facebook and Instagram associated with criminal scam centers.
The company said in its press release in March that it participated in a major disruption operation with global law enforcement agencies, resulting in Meta investigators disabling more than 150,000 accounts associated with scam center networks and also contributing to 21 arrests made by the Royal Thai Police.
Among other steps, Meta said it will be using advanced AI systems that can analyze multiple signals — such as text, images and the surrounding context — to spot a broader range of sophisticated scam patterns more quickly. The aim is to protect consumers from scammers who impersonate others, including celebrities and well-known retail brands.
Don't trust, just verify if it's real or a scam
Scammers tap into social media as a way to gain your trust before stealing your money.
What better way to sell vitamins than to pretend to be a doctor?
It's not unusual to run across ads and advertising pages for medical and health-related products on Facebook, for example, that impersonate medical doctors and celebrities to sell possibly dangerous medical and health-related products, according to a study done by Reset Tech, an independent not-for-profit that says its mission includes explaining how digital media products are exploited and manipulated to threaten consumers.
Misused logos of pharmaceutical companies and other organizations also lend credibility to the promoted products, according to the study.
In other cases, scammers develop a profile of you, in part, based on what you post online. Seem to be single and searching for love? They'll send a message from an attractive love connection who just happens to share the same interests as you do.
Down the line, after they've gained your trust and affection, they will create a crisis where they need cash, or they'll offer investment advice to draw a consumer onto a fake investment platform.
These days everyone wants to save some money by shopping for bargains.
And according to the FTC, shopping scams were the most reported type of social media scam in 2025.
More than 40% of people who lost savings to a scam on social media stated that they ordered something they saw in a social media ad that either never arrived or proved to be of poor quality when it did show up. We're talking about everything from clothes and makeup to car parts and puppies.
Many ads directed consumers to unfamiliar websites, according to the FTC, while others sent people to sites impersonating well-known brands that claimed to offer big discounts. Crooks know how to play the game.
"And by buying ads," the FTC states, "they get the same tools real businesses use to target you by age, interests or shopping habits. At very little cost, scammers can reach billions of people from anywhere in the world."
Investment scams set off the biggest reported losses in 2025 when it came to scams initiated on social media, according to the FTC.
Consumers reported losing $1.1 billion to investment-related scams on social media — more than half the money reported lost in social media-related scams. Many times, the FTC said, crooks connect with consumers through an ad or post offering a program to teach you how to invest.
Scammers aren't just targeting older adults. The FTC said all age groups, with the exception of those 80 and over, reported losing more money to scams that started on social media than any other contact method. And social media ranked second after phone calls for those 80 and older.
You have to protect yourself
How do you avoid losing money to scams on social media? The FTC and others recommend:
Limit who can see your posts and contacts on social media. Visit your privacy settings to set some restrictions so scammers have less to work with.
Never let someone you have met only on social media suggest a way for you to invest your retirement nest egg. Instead, learn more about spotting investment scams.
Before you buy, search online for similar products or deals and use the words “scam” or “complaint.”
If your friend seems to be trying to sell watches or trucks, contact your friend by phone or through a mutual friend. Don't send a down payment before you know if someone is really selling a long list of items. Remember, scammers can change email addresses once they take over an account. In some cases, you could be emailing the scammer, not your friend.
Meta encourages users to enable two-factor authentication for an extra layer of protection to accounts.
Contact personal finance columnist Susan Tompor: [email protected]. Follow her on X @tompor.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Facebook scams cost users $794 million, FTC data shows
Source: “AOL Money”
