According to the Federal Trade Commission, since 2021 Americans have lost $2.7 billion in scams from social media. Throw on top of that the report said that only a fraction of the actual harm. Most cases of fraud go unreported, the agency noted. People continue to fall victim to social media scams in part because criminals have a trove of techniques they use for finding their prey, Emma Fletcher, a senior data researcher for the FTC, wrote in an analysis of the scam report. “They can easily manufacture a fake persona, or hack into your profile, pretend to be you, and con your friends,” Fletcher said.
