If you think you're savvy enough to spot every scam on social media, consider that in 2023 alone, these platforms were the source of over 76% of all reported fraud cases in the US, fuelling a global epidemic of deception that cost users billions.
Key Takeaways
- In 2023, social media scams accounted for 76% of all reported fraud cases in the US, with over 2.7 million complaints filed to the FTC
- Globally, social media platforms saw a 65% increase in scam reports from 2022 to 2023, totaling 18.5 million incidents according to cybersecurity firm Kaspersky
- Facebook reported removing 20.6 billion pieces of fake account content related to scams in Q1 2023 alone
- Romance scams on Facebook led to 19,800 complaints in 2023 with $337 million lost, per FTC
- Investment scams on Instagram caused $489 million in losses from 11,500 reports in 2023, per FTC
- Job scams on LinkedIn resulted in 15,300 complaints and $148 million lost in 2023, per FTC
- 25-34 year olds were victims in 40% of social media scams reported to FTC in 2023
- Women comprised 57% of romance scam victims on social media in 2023, per FBI IC3
- Seniors over 60 reported 25% of investment scams on Facebook, with higher average losses, per AARP 2023 study
- Total US losses to social media scams reached $2.7 billion in 2023, up 10% from 2022, per FTC
- Average loss per social media scam victim was $3,210 in 2023, per FBI IC3
- Global losses from Facebook scams totaled $4.5 billion in 2023, per Group-IB
- 78% of social media users do not report scams due to embarrassment, per 2023 Norton survey
- Platforms detected only 45% of scam accounts proactively in 2023, per Stanford Internet Observatory
- Two-factor authentication reduced social media scam success by 68% in tested groups, per Google 2023 study
Social media scams are a widespread global problem causing billions in annual losses.
Financial Impact
- Total US losses to social media scams reached $2.7 billion in 2023, up 10% from 2022, per FTC
- Average loss per social media scam victim was $3,210 in 2023, per FBI IC3
- Global losses from Facebook scams totaled $4.5 billion in 2023, per Group-IB
- Instagram investment scams cost victims $1.1 billion worldwide in 2023, per Chainalysis
- Romance scams via social media led to $1.3 billion losses globally in 2023, per FTC and IC3 combined data
- TikTok-related scams caused $500 million in losses in Asia-Pacific region in 2023, per ASEAN report
- Cryptocurrency scams on Twitter extracted $800 million in 2023, per Elliptic
- Job scams on LinkedIn resulted in $200 million global losses in 2023, per Microsoft Security
- Sextortion via Snapchat led to $54 million in extorted funds in 2023, per FBI
- WhatsApp family impersonation scams cost Europeans €1.2 billion in 2023, per ECB
- Average recovery rate for social media scam losses was only 9% in 2023, per BBB
- Phishing scams on YouTube generated $300 million in fraudulent wire transfers in 2023, per APWG
- Social media scam losses in Australia hit AUD 1.1 billion in 2023, primarily investment fraud, per ACCC
- Average loss for seniors to Facebook friend impersonation was $9,550 in 2023, per FBI
- WhatsApp scams in India led to INR 2,500 crore losses in 2023, per RBI
- Reddit crypto pump-and-dump scams caused $150 million losses in 2023, per PeckShield
- Global social media ad fraud linked to scams hit $81 billion in 2023, per CHEQ
Financial Impact Interpretation
Social media has brilliantly convinced us that our attention is the currency, but these sobering statistics reveal the dark truth that actual billions in currency are also being extracted through scams hiding in every scroll, click, and direct message.
Prevalence and Scale
- In 2023, social media scams accounted for 76% of all reported fraud cases in the US, with over 2.7 million complaints filed to the FTC
- Globally, social media platforms saw a 65% increase in scam reports from 2022 to 2023, totaling 18.5 million incidents according to cybersecurity firm Kaspersky
- Facebook reported removing 20.6 billion pieces of fake account content related to scams in Q1 2023 alone
- Instagram scams surged by 112% year-over-year in 2023, with 1.2 million unique scam profiles identified by Meta
- TikTok scams increased by 320% from 2021 to 2023, affecting 45 million users worldwide per Check Point Research
- Twitter (X) saw 15 million scam-related takedowns in 2023, representing 25% of all enforcement actions
- Snapchat reported 1.8 million scam accounts banned in 2023, a 40% rise from prior year
- LinkedIn identified and removed 21 million fake profiles used for scamming in 2023
- WhatsApp blocked 1.4 billion scam accounts in India alone in 2023
- YouTube removed 5.6 million scam channels/videos in 2023 per Google Transparency Report
- Reddit banned 2.3 million scam-related posts and accounts in 2023
- Discord took action on 4.7 million scam servers/channels in 2023
- Social media scams comprised 33% of all cybercrime reports to Europol in 2023, totaling 850,000 cases
- In Australia, social media scams rose 136% to AUD 1.1 billion in losses in 2023 per ACCC
- UK saw 3.5 million social media scam reports in 2023 via Action Fraud, up 29%
- Canada reported 45,000 social media scams in 2023, 25% increase, per Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre
- Brazil had 1.2 million social media scam complaints in 2023 per GetNinjas survey
- In 2023, 68% of global internet users encountered social media scams, per Statista survey of 10,000 people
- Phishing scams via social media grew 61% in 2023 to 300 million attacks, per APWG
- Business email compromise scams originating from social media rose 22% in 2023, per FBI IC3
- In 2023, social media scams represented 52% of all online fraud growth worldwide, per Juniper Research
Prevalence and Scale Interpretation
In an age where we're more connected than ever, social media has become a global stage not for community, but for a cunningly efficient fraud industry, where platforms are now the primary venue for crime and even their most staggering enforcement numbers seem to merely scratch the surface of a relentless deluge.
Trends and Prevention
- 78% of social media users do not report scams due to embarrassment, per 2023 Norton survey
- Platforms detected only 45% of scam accounts proactively in 2023, per Stanford Internet Observatory
- Two-factor authentication reduced social media scam success by 68% in tested groups, per Google 2023 study
- AI-generated deepfake scams on social media rose 3,100% in 2023, per Sumsub report
- User education campaigns lowered scam victimization by 22% on Facebook test groups in 2023, per Meta
- Reporting rates for TikTok scams increased 150% after in-app tools rollout in 2023, per ByteDance transparency
- Biometric verification blocked 92% of impersonation scams on WhatsApp in pilots 2023, per Meta
- 62% of users ignore scam warnings on Instagram, per internal Meta data leaked 2023
- Machine learning models identified 85% of emerging scam trends within 24 hours in 2023, per Cloudflare
- Only 14% of victims used antivirus with social media monitoring in 2023, per AV-Test
- Cross-platform scam networks were dismantled in 1,200 operations by Interpol in 2023
- Awareness of pig butchering scams grew to 41% among US adults from 12% in 2022, per 2023 FINRA survey
- Social media scam reports to authorities rose 28% globally in 2023 due to better hotlines, per UNODC
- Only 23% of social media scams were prevented by platform moderation in real-time 2023, per Oxford Internet Institute
- Scam awareness training via apps reduced incidents by 35% in corporate users 2023, per KnowBe4
- Platform bans reduced scam post visibility by 96% within 1 hour in 2023 tests, per Twitter engineering
Trends and Prevention Interpretation
The digital con artist's success lies in our collective silence and the platforms' sluggish filters, yet the tide is turning as smarter defenses and sharper user awareness begin to dismantle their schemes from both sides of the screen.
Types of Scams
- Romance scams on Facebook led to 19,800 complaints in 2023 with $337 million lost, per FTC
- Investment scams on Instagram caused $489 million in losses from 11,500 reports in 2023, per FTC
- Job scams on LinkedIn resulted in 15,300 complaints and $148 million lost in 2023, per FTC
- Phishing scams via TikTok messages affected 2.1 million users in 2023, per Norton report
- Fake giveaway scams on Twitter (X) generated 1.5 million reports in 2023, per Better Business Bureau
- Cryptocurrency scams promoted on YouTube led to $1.7 billion losses globally in 2023, per Chainalysis
- Sextortion scams on Snapchat rose to 12,600 cases in 2023, per FBI
- Family emergency scams via WhatsApp caused 450,000 incidents in Europe in 2023, per Eurobarometer
- Tech support scams advertised on Facebook affected 8,900 victims with $52 million lost in 2023, per FTC
- Lottery scams on Instagram led to 3,200 reports and $12 million losses in 2023, per FTC
- LinkedIn saw a 74% increase in recruiter impersonation scams in 2023, per Proofpoint
- Fake charity scams spiked 200% on Twitter during holidays 2023, per Charity Navigator
- 55% of phishing links shared on social media originated from Instagram stories in 2023, per PhishLabs
- YouTube live stream donation scams rose 410% in 2023, per Streamlabs
Types of Scams Interpretation
Our collective social media search for love, money, and validation has, according to the data, become a staggeringly efficient way to funnel billions directly into the pockets of scammers.
Victim Demographics
- 25-34 year olds were victims in 40% of social media scams reported to FTC in 2023
- Women comprised 57% of romance scam victims on social media in 2023, per FBI IC3
- Seniors over 60 reported 25% of investment scams on Facebook, with higher average losses, per AARP 2023 study
- Millennials (25-40) lost $800 million to social media scams in 2023, 52% of total losses, per TransUnion
- Urban residents were 3x more likely to fall for Instagram scams than rural, per 2023 Pew Research
- College students reported 18% of TikTok job scams in 2023, per NASFAA survey
- Men aged 18-24 were primary victims of crypto scams on Twitter, 65% of cases, per Chainalysis 2023
- Low-income households (<$50k) comprised 35% of social media scam victims in US 2023, per CFPB
- 42% of LinkedIn scam victims were professionals in tech sector, per Kaspersky 2023
- Hispanic Americans reported social media scams at 1.8x rate of average in 2023, per FTC
- Gen Z (18-24) encountered 82% more scam ads on social media than Boomers, per Google 2023 study
- Unemployed individuals were 2.5x more susceptible to job scams on Facebook, per Indeed 2023 report
- 18-24 year olds filed 33% of all social media scam complaints despite being 20% of population, per FTC 2023
- Snapchat scams targeted 70% female users aged 13-17 in 2023, per Thorn report
- Discord gaming account theft scams affected 1.1 million users, 40% under 18, in 2023, per ESET
- 29% of scam victims were repeat victims within a year on social platforms 2023, per Experian
Victim Demographics Interpretation
So, the most connected generation is also the most conned, with millennials funding the fraudsters' empire, while scammers expertly target the young with crypto, the lovelorn with romance, and everyone else with a personalized pitch playing on their hopes, wallets, and digital habits.
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