Social media scams cost Americans $2.7 billion in 2023, and the average victim lost $3,210, even as platforms ramped up takedowns and account bans. The gap between enforcement and impact gets more alarming fast, with global losses tied to Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp, and even livestream “donations” climbing into the billions and far beyond. This post pulls together the key statistics across platforms and scam types to show exactly where the money is going and why it keeps getting through.
Key Takeaways
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
In 2023, social media scams cost Americans billions, with 2.7 million FTC complaints and rising global losses.
Related reading
01 · Category
Financial Impact17 stats
01
Total US losses to social media scams reached $2.7 billion in 2023, up 10% from 2022, per FTC
02
Average loss per social media scam victim was $3,210in 2023, per FBI IC3
03
Global losses from Facebook scams totaled $4.5 billion in 2023, per Group-IB
04
Instagram investment scams cost victims $1.1 billion worldwide in 2023, per Chainalysis
05
Romance scams via social media led to $1.3 billion losses globally in 2023, per FTC and IC3 combined data
06
TikTok-related scams caused $500 million in losses in Asia-Pacific region in 2023, per ASEAN report
07
Cryptocurrency scams on Twitter extracted $800 million in 2023, per Elliptic
08
Job scams on LinkedIn resulted in $200 million global losses in 2023, per Microsoft Security
09
Sextortion via Snapchat led to $54 million in extorted funds in 2023, per FBI
10
WhatsApp family impersonation scams cost Europeans €1.2 billion in 2023, per ECB
11
Average recovery rate for social media scam losses was only 9% in 2023, per BBB
12
Phishing scams on YouTube generated $300 million in fraudulent wire transfers in 2023, per APWG
13
Social media scam losses in Australia hit AUD 1.1 billion in 2023, primarily investment fraud, per ACCC
14
Average loss for seniors to Facebook friend impersonation was $9,550in 2023, per FBI
15
WhatsApp scams in India led to INR 2,500 crore losses in 2023, per RBI
16
Reddit crypto pump-and-dump scams caused $150 million losses in 2023, per PeckShield
17
Global social media ad fraud linked to scams hit $81 billion in 2023, per CHEQ
Interpretation
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.
02 · Category
Prevalence and Scale21 stats
01
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
02
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
03
Facebook reported removing 20.6 billion pieces of fake account content related to scams in Q1 2023 alone
04
Instagram scams surged by 112% year-over-year in 2023, with 1.2 million unique scam profiles identified by Meta
05
TikTok scams increased by 320% from 2021 to 2023, affecting 45 million users worldwide per Check Point Research
06
Twitter (X) saw 15 million scam-related takedowns in 2023, representing 25% of all enforcement actions
07
Snapchat reported 1.8 million scam accounts banned in 2023, a 40% rise from prior year
08
LinkedIn identified and removed 21 million fake profiles used for scamming in 2023
09
WhatsApp blocked 1.4 billion scam accounts in India alone in 2023
10
YouTube removed 5.6 million scam channels/videos in 2023 per Google Transparency Report
11
Reddit banned 2.3 million scam-related posts and accounts in 2023
12
Discord took action on 4.7 million scam servers/channels in 2023
13
Social media scams comprised 33% of all cybercrime reports to Europol in 2023, totaling 850,000 cases
14
In Australia, social media scams rose 136% to AUD 1.1 billion in losses in 2023 per ACCC
15
UK saw 3.5 million social media scam reports in 2023 via Action Fraud, up 29%
16
Canada reported 45,000 social media scams in 2023, 25% increase, per Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre
17
Brazil had 1.2 million social media scam complaints in 2023 per GetNinjas survey
18
In 2023, 68% of global internet users encountered social media scams, per Statista survey of 10,000 people
19
Phishing scams via social media grew 61% in 2023 to 300 million attacks, per APWG
20
Business email compromise scams originating from social media rose 22% in 2023, per FBI IC3
21
In 2023, social media scams represented 52% of all online fraud growth worldwide, per Juniper Research
Interpretation
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.
03 · Category
Trends and Prevention16 stats
01
78% of social media users do not report scams due to embarrassment, per 2023 Norton survey
02
Platforms detected only 45% of scam accounts proactively in 2023, per Stanford Internet Observatory
03
Two-factor authentication reduced social media scam success by 68% in tested groups, per Google 2023 study
04
AI-generated deepfake scams on social media rose 3,100% in 2023, per Sumsub report
05
User education campaigns lowered scam victimization by 22% on Facebook test groups in 2023, per Meta
06
Reporting rates for TikTok scams increased 150% after in-app tools rollout in 2023, per ByteDance transparency
07
Biometric verification blocked 92% of impersonation scams on WhatsApp in pilots 2023, per Meta
08
62% of users ignore scam warnings on Instagram, per internal Meta data leaked 2023
09
Machine learning models identified 85% of emerging scam trends within 24 hours in 2023, per Cloudflare
10
Only 14% of victims used antivirus with social media monitoring in 2023, per AV-Test
11
Cross-platform scam networks were dismantled in 1,200 operations by Interpol in 2023
12
Awareness of pig butchering scams grew to 41% among US adults from 12% in 2022, per 2023 FINRA survey
13
Social media scam reports to authorities rose 28% globally in 2023 due to better hotlines, per UNODC
14
Only 23% of social media scams were prevented by platform moderation in real-time 2023, per Oxford Internet Institute
15
Scam awareness training via apps reduced incidents by 35% in corporate users 2023, per KnowBe4
16
Platform bans reduced scam post visibility by 96% within 1 hour in 2023 tests, per Twitter engineering
Interpretation
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.
More related reading
04 · Category
Types of Scams14 stats
01
Romance scams on Facebook led to 19,800 complaints in 2023 with $337 million lost, per FTC
02
Investment scams on Instagram caused $489 million in losses from 11,500 reports in 2023, per FTC
03
Job scams on LinkedIn resulted in 15,300 complaints and $148 million lost in 2023, per FTC
04
Phishing scams via TikTok messages affected 2.1 million users in 2023, per Norton report
05
Fake giveaway scams on Twitter (X) generated 1.5 million reports in 2023, per Better Business Bureau
06
Cryptocurrency scams promoted on YouTube led to $1.7 billion losses globally in 2023, per Chainalysis
07
Sextortion scams on Snapchat rose to 12,600 cases in 2023, per FBI
08
Family emergency scams via WhatsApp caused 450,000 incidents in Europe in 2023, per Eurobarometer
09
Tech support scams advertised on Facebook affected 8,900 victims with $52 million lost in 2023, per FTC
10
Lottery scams on Instagram led to 3,200 reports and $12 million losses in 2023, per FTC
11
LinkedIn saw a 74% increase in recruiter impersonation scams in 2023, per Proofpoint
12
Fake charity scams spiked 200% on Twitter during holidays 2023, per Charity Navigator
13
55% of phishing links shared on social media originated from Instagram stories in 2023, per PhishLabs
14
YouTube live stream donation scams rose 410% in 2023, per Streamlabs
Interpretation
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.
05 · Category
Victim Demographics16 stats
01
25-34 year olds were victims in 40% of social media scams reported to FTC in 2023
02
Women comprised 57% of romance scam victims on social media in 2023, per FBI IC3
03
Seniors over 60 reported 25% of investment scams on Facebook, with higher average losses, per AARP 2023 study
04
Millennials (25-40) lost $800 million to social media scams in 2023, 52% of total losses, per TransUnion
05
Urban residents were 3x more likely to fall for Instagram scams than rural, per 2023 Pew Research
06
College students reported 18% of TikTok job scams in 2023, per NASFAA survey
07
Men aged 18-24 were primary victims of crypto scams on Twitter, 65% of cases, per Chainalysis 2023
08
Low-income households (<$50k) comprised 35% of social media scam victims in US 2023, per CFPB
09
42% of LinkedIn scam victims were professionals in tech sector, per Kaspersky 2023
10
Hispanic Americans reported social media scams at 1.8x rate of average in 2023, per FTC
11
Gen Z (18-24) encountered 82% more scam ads on social media than Boomers, per Google 2023 study
12
Unemployed individuals were 2.5x more susceptible to job scams on Facebook, per Indeed 2023 report
13
18-24 year olds filed 33% of all social media scam complaints despite being 20% of population, per FTC 2023
14
Snapchat scams targeted 70% female users aged 13-17 in 2023, per Thorn report
15
Discord gaming account theft scams affected 1.1 million users, 40% under 18, in 2023, per ESET
16
29% of scam victims were repeat victims within a year on social platforms 2023, per Experian
Interpretation
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.
Reference
Cite This Report
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APA
Kevin O'Brien. (2026, February 13). Social Media Scamming Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/social-media-scamming-statistics
MLA
Kevin O'Brien. "Social Media Scamming Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/social-media-scamming-statistics.
Chicago
Kevin O'Brien. 2026. "Social Media Scamming Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/social-media-scamming-statistics.
Sources & references
64 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level