According to reports by a U.S. watchdog, many consumers in the nation have fallen prey to social media scams and the amount lost in the first six months of 2023 is reportedly at least $650 million. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) data shows that most victims of scams have been contacted via social media. Most of the consumers lose money through online shopping fraud, fake investment opportunities as well as romance cons.
The FTC, a U.S. watchdog that protects American consumers reported the following online scams for the first half of 2023, in its business blog. It said that the most frequent losses to fraud that were reported by consumers were from people who tried to buy something online and it was 44 percent according to its press release.
These consumers saw ads on Facebook or Instagram and lost money or did not get delivery of merchandise. Clothes and electronics were the merchandise that remained undelivered, most often.
More than half the consumers—53 percent lost money on scams via social media. Money making promotions that were posted as investment opportunities turned out to be scams. These promotions often used cryptocurrency as the hook.
Many of the scammers posted their own reported stories of success with crypto luring consumers who most often ended up with empty wallets.
Data Spotlight also highlighted losses due to romance scams. About 50 percent of those who lost money through social media said that the losses they faced began from social media sites including Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat.
The U.S. watchdog that protects America’s consumers also offered advice to consumers some of which included limiting those who see a person’s posts on social media. It also said that although there might be a great love story that began online, there is a need to talk about those that ended badly as well.
The FTC noted that messages sent supposedly from a friend asking for money or sharing a “can’t miss investment opportunity” were most probably sent by hackers. When money is asked through cryptocurrency, gift card or wire transfer, there is a high probability that it is a scammer and not a friend.
The FTC also said that its data shows that there has been a loss of $2.7 billion through social media scams since 2021, as per reports by consumers.
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