More than 25% of people who made reports of losing money through fraud in 2021 said the fraud started on social media. These victims told authorities the fraud started with an advertisement, a post, or some message through social media. A report recently released by the Federal Trade Commission spotlights the use of social media by criminals looking to run successful scams.
The report noted scammers are increasing their use of social media to target victims. Since 2017, the amount of dollars reported lost in fraud involving social media increased by an eye-popping 1,800%. Social media finds itself especially involved in phony investment schemes promoting cryptocurrency, and in romance scams. And while all age demographics are experiencing greater losses, the 18 to 39 demographic looks like it’s taking the biggest hit from social media scams. That younger group fell victim at twice the rate as their senior counterparts.
From a scammer’s point of view, social media offers a lot. It’s very inexpensive and has a worldwide reach. It’s shockingly easy to create a fake profile or persona. But you can also, seemingly without much effort, hack into existing social media accounts, take them over, and send out phony messages to all the “friends”.
This hacking is something I hear of almost daily….
