Romance, investment, celebrity impersonation, marketplace, and fake job offers are the five most common scams on social media, with fraudsters using fake profiles and trust-building tactics before asking for money or personal information.
Scammers target users who reveal personal details online, such as retirement, relationship changes, vacations, financial concerns, or an interest in investing, making it easier to identify vulnerable victims.
Consumers can reduce their risk by tightening privacy settings, verifying identities, avoiding off-platform payments and unsolicited links, and never sending money or cryptocurrency to someone they've only met online.
If you are active on social media, you may have a target on your back. Increasingly, scammers use various social media platforms to find victims. All too often, we make it too easy for them.
According to our research, here are five of the most common scams on social media.
Romance scams
Many people turn to social media to make connections and may be vulnerable to fraudsters who create fake dating or social media profiles, build trust over weeks or months, then invent emergencies requiring money. They often move conversations from Facebook or Instagram to encrypted messaging apps.
Warning signs:
They profess love quickly.
They refuse to meet in person or video chat.
They ask for money, gift cards, or cryptocurrency.
Investment and cryptocurrency scams
Scammers advertise "guaranteed" investment returns through Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, LinkedIn, or WhatsApp. They may impersonate financial experts or create fake testimonials. These scams can also take the form of “pig butchering" schemes that evolve over longer periods of time.
Common pitches include:
Crypto trading platforms
AI investing
Forex trading
Precious metals
"Secret" investment groups
Celebrity impersonation
If social media users tend to be star-struck, they may be thrilled when they connect with a celebrity. Except, it’s not really a celebrity.
Criminals clone the profiles of actors, musicians, politicians, or business leaders, in hopes of gaining followers.
Then they may contact their followers to develop a relationship. Eventually, the fake celebrity will let their new friend in on a “can’t miss” investment opportunity.
Marketplace scams
On Facebook Marketplace and similar platforms, scammers may:
Sell items they don't own.
Ask buyers to pay outside the platform.
Send fake payment confirmations.
Trick sellers into refunding nonexistent overpayments.
Job scams
Fake recruiters advertise remote jobs with high pay and flexible hours. Victims may be asked to:
Pay for training or equipment
Deposit fraudulent checks
Provide Social Security numbers or bank information
Perform illegal money transfers
Most of these scams are not new. Social media simply gives the scammer cover, allowing them to present themselves as something they are not. Victims usually provide too much information about themselves.
How scammers find victims
They often search for people who publicly share:
Recent retirement announcements
Deaths in the family
Divorce or relationship changes
Large purchases (new home, car, vacation)
Financial concerns
Interest in investing or cryptocurrencies
Loneliness or requests for companionship
How to protect yourself
Keep personal information private and review your social media privacy settings.
Be skeptical of unsolicited messages, even if they appear to come from someone you know.
Never send money, gift cards, cryptocurrency, or wire transfers to someone you've met only online.
Verify identities through another communication channel before responding to urgent requests.
Avoid clicking links sent in unexpected direct messages.
Be cautious of anyone promising guaranteed investment returns or asking you to move conversations to encrypted messaging apps.
Reverse-image search profile photos if you suspect a fake account.
Report suspicious accounts to the social media platform and to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
The common thread across nearly all social media scams is that the criminal first builds trust — whether by posing as a friend, romantic interest, recruiter, investor, or customer — before asking for money, personal information, or access to your accounts.