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The past year has been a turning point for media fraudsters, according to a from the FTC. The agency said more than 95,000 people had lost $ 770 million to cybercriminals through social networking sites in 2021. That is more than double the $ 258 million that the 2020 scammers claimed.
The report does not specify why the increase was so significant in 2021, but it does say that fraud reports “have grown” over the past five years. It also states that there was a “significant increase” in fraud related to “cryptocurrency fraud” and that financial fraud was approximately $ 285 million – more than three – of the $ 770 million lost last year.
Romantic propaganda has also “increased dramatically in recent years,” according to the report. “These scams often start with a seemingly unfriendly request from a stranger, and then it’s a good story, and then, no doubt, a request for money,” the FTC says. Widespread and deceptive practices related to online shopping, many of which include “unsolicited goods” purchased as a result of social media marketing.
Note, Facebook and Instagram are the only two platforms mentioned in the report. “More than a third of people who claimed to have lost money as a result of online dating fraud in 2021 said it started on Facebook or Instagram,” the report said. Similarly, the FTC claims that Facebook and Instagram were the most frequently mentioned platforms for the unattended, with the two apps mentioned in a report out of 9 out of 10 when the job was announced.
“We put in place measures to combat this kind of fraud and abuse,” a Meta spokesman said in a statement. “We continue to suspend and remove accounts, pages, and advertisements. We hold accountable those responsible if we can and always encourage people to report the behavior when they see it.”
Interestingly, one of the FTC’s considerations is that users should try to stop their advertising if possible because scammers “can use the tools available to advertisers on social media sites to target people with fake ads based on their age, preferences. or what I bought earlier. ” The board also recommends that users lock up their personal information and beware of any solicitation of funds, especially cryptocurrency or gift cards.
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