Where Data Tells the Story
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The front line of financial crime has moved from inbox to your newsfeed.
In 2025, social media scams in the U.S. reached a staggering $2.1 billion in reported losses, a figure that has grown eightfold since 2020.
The visualization above shows the top fraud contact methods ranked by the number of reported cases in America.
It is based on the latest data from the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Consumer Sentinel Network.
The most jarring takeaway from the FTC’s 2025 report is the dominance of Meta-owned platforms.
Together, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram accounted for over $1.45 billion in fraud losses.
Facebook leads this grim pack with $794 million in stolen funds.
To put that in perspective, the total amount lost to Facebook scams alone is now higher than all reported losses from email fraud ($569 million) and text-based “smishing” ($639 million).
WhatsApp also emerged as a major player in the fraud economy, with $425 million in losses.
Experts suggest that while the initial “hook” of a scam often happens on a public Facebook or Instagram post, criminals quickly move victims to the encrypted environment of WhatsApp to “close the deal", away from the prying eyes of platform moderators.