https://techcrunch.com/2022/01/27/ftc-u-s-consumers-lost-770-million-in-social-media-scams-in-2021-up-18x-from-2017/

A growing number of U.S. consumers are getting scammed on social media according to a new report by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which revealed that consumers lost $770 million to social media scams in 2021 — a figure that accounted for about one-fourth of all fraud losses for the year. That number has also increased 18 times from the $42 million in social media fraud reported in 2017, the FTC said, as new types of scams involving cryptocurrency and online shopping became more popular. This has also led to many younger consumers getting scammed, as now adults ages 18 to 39 reported fraud losses at a rate that’s 2.4x higher than adults 40 and over.

Scammers have clearly found that social media is one of the most profitable places to commit fraud. More than 95,000 fraud victims said they were first contacted on social media — more than double 2020’s number, and up 19x from 2017.