While there are many other types of social media scams \u2014 such as offers of free money or gifts, chain letter scams, fake job listings or workers for hire, and (of course) Coronavirus-related scams \u2014 we don\u2019t have time to go into all of them. But what we’d like to do is share some of the top scam statistics we could find relating to social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Scam Statistics: A Social Media Environment Overview<\/h2>\n\n\n\n![\"Graphic](\"https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/iStock-1162810855-1024x640.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nBefore we jump right in to covering the top statistics related to specific social media scams, we thought it might be helpful to first cover some general social media industry related statistics to help provide some context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. More than 3.8 Billion People Are Using Social Media<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nDataReportal, in collaboration with Hootsuite and We Are Social, share in their Digital 2020 Global Overview Report<\/a> that there were more than 3.8 billion social media users at the start of 2020. That number is an increase of nine percent over what they reported in their previous annual report.<\/p>\n\n\n\nConsidering that the United Nations estimates that the world\u2019s current total population has surpassed 7.7 billion, this means that roughly half of the global population uses social media. That\u2019s a whole lot of potential targets for cybercriminals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. Social Media Cybercrimes Generate Global Revenue That Tops $3.25 Billion Annually<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nResearch from Bromium and Dr. Mike McGuire<\/a>, a Senior Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Surrey, shows that social media is a tool that cybercriminals love to use to their advantage. Their report<\/a> indicates that \u201csocial media-enabled cybercrimes are generating at least $3.25B in global revenue annually.\u201d Furthermore, the criminal revenues that are generated by social media-enabled fraud have increased more than 60% since 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n3. Facebook Had Three of the Worse Cases of Data Exposure in 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nNot once, twice, but three times<\/em> last year, Facebook was guilting of being the target of egregious data exposures, SonicWall reports in their SonicWall 2020 Cyber Threat Report<\/a>. The events, which occurred March 21, April 2, and Dec. 14, resulted in the exposure of between 267 million and 600 million users \u2014 or an average of 469 users \u2014 per incident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n4. Social Media Incidents of Abuse Increased Nearly 200% in 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nData from PhishLabs<\/a> indicates that in 2018, the abuse of social media increased almost 200%!<\/p>\n\n\n\n5. One in Four Transactions on Social Networking and Dating Platforms Are Cyber Attacks<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Q2 2020 Fraud and Abuse report<\/a> from Arkose Labs reports that 27% of social transactions that took place between January and March 2020 were actually attacks. Furthermore, the report also shares that although they decreased in Q2 2020 compared to Q1 2020, \u201cOne-fifth of traffic on social media companies is an attack.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n6. Australians Report Losing Nearly $23 Million in Social Networking Scams in 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Australian Competition & Consumer Commission\u2019s Crime Watch website<\/a> reports that there was $22,095,164 in reported losses from 8,195 victims in 2019. Now, compare this to the $15,769,203 in reported losses from 6,829 victims in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n7. Only 30% of U.S. Adults Understand What HTTPS Means in a URL<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s definitely not the kind of stat website and cybersecurity experts like to see. But according to the American Trends Panel Survey<\/a> from Pew Research Center, only three-in-10 respondents indicate that they understand that the \u201cHTTPS\u201d in a website address means a website is secure, meaning that the data is encrypted. This means that when they\u2019re clicking on links in social media posts, emails, or other channels, they 70% of those who do so may not actually know whether any information they share is secure<\/p>\n\n\n\nSocial Media Scam Statistics: Phishing Scams and Other Social Engineering Attacks<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Current industry phishing statistics<\/a> show that phishing has been \u2014 and continues to be \u2014 a major issue for individuals and organizations alike. Threat actors are using all sorts of avenues to target their potential victims, and social media and social network platforms are among them.<\/p>\n\n\n\nCybercriminals often use social media in two ways: they use it to gain useful information about their targets and as a way to trick them into doing something they shouldn\u2019t. The first is useful because it provides a means for criminals to learn important information that they can use to con individuals, as well as to guess their login credentials to compromise accounts. The second is a more straightforward method of attack and often involves the threat actor sending the victim a malicious link. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some threat actors use tactics like developing quizzes and questionnaires that people share on their social accounts. While seemingly innocent, these quizzes are virtual data goldmines<\/a> for cybercriminals, which they can then use to take over accounts or commit identity theft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n8. Nearly Half of Internet Users Report Increasing Spam on Social Media<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe results of a HubSpot survey<\/a> of 542 internet users in the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom indicate that 46.9% of users have noticed more spam in their social media feeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n9. More than 12% of Phishing URL Clicks Were Accessed Via Social Media<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nAn academic study of more than 7,000 malicious Bit.ly shortened URLs<\/a> (pulled from a total of more than 300,000 malicious URLs) shows that the majority were access directly, meaning via instant messages, email clients and applications. However, 12.14% of phishing URLs that were clicked on were accessed via social media and 3.67% via social networks. For malware URLs, the numbers of clicks were 8.33% of clicks were via social media and 8.32% were through social networks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n10. More Than 5% of Phishing Attacks Occur Via Social Media<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe PhishLabs research we mentioned a little earlier indicates that one-in-20 phishing attacks are associated with social media in some way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
11. 67%: How Many U.S. Adults Understand the Phishing Scams Can Occur Via Multiple Platforms<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe truth of the matter is that when it comes to phishing, social media is just one of any avenues of attack that cybercriminals choose to use. Others include the use of email, text messages (SMS texting), and websites. However, data from Pew Research Center\u2019s American Trends Panel survey of 4,272 panelists indicates that only two-thirds of those survey respondents actually understand that phishing scams can happen across multiple platforms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
12. 96% of Organizations in Japan Reported Experiencing Social Media Phishing Attacks in 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nMore than nine-in-10 Japanese organizations that participated in Proofpoint\u2019s 2020 State of the Phish report<\/a> indicate that they experienced at least one social media attack in 2019. Half reported 1-10 attacks in that time, and another 23% said they experienced between 11 and 25 such attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n13. 78% of U.S. Organizations Reported Experiencing Social Media Phishing Attacks in 2019<\/strong>
U.S. organizations reportedly experienced fewer social media attacks than their Japanese counterparts in 2019, according to data from Proofpoint\u2019s 2020 State of the Phish annual report. One-quarter of respondents indicate that they experienced 1-10 phishing attacks, and another 26% indicate that they experienced between 11 and 50 such attacks during the year. <\/p>\n\n\n\nSocial Media Scam Statistics: Identity Theft, Account Takeover, and Duplicate & Fake Accounts<\/h3>\n\n\n\n![\"Social](\"https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/social-media-scams-scam-statistics-1024x640.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nA person\u2019s identity is among their most valuable intangible possessions. If a cybercriminal takes over their identity, as most identity theft survivors will tell you, it\u2019s a nightmare to deal with and is something you\u2019ll struggle with for years to come. But despite these concerns, social media users are often times willing to share personal data and personally identifiable information (PII) about themselves on social media that they\u2019d never do in a face-to-face setting with strangers. Cybercriminals know this and use these platforms in different ways to gain valuable information about their targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
14. Email and Social Media Identity Theft Increased 10% in 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reports in their Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2019<\/a> that there were 650,572 cases of identity theft reported in 2019. Their data also shows that email and social media-based identity theft increased 10% in 2019 to 10,356 reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n15. 20% of Identity Fraud Losses Large Banks Incur Is Due to Synthetic Identity Theft<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nAlthough you may not be familiar with the term, synthetic identity theft is reportedly the world\u2019s fastest-growing financial crime<\/a>. This type of crime involves the creation of a new, fake identity using a target\u2019s PII (including their social security number) and images that the cybercriminals get from social media accounts and other online sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAccording to a report by the Federal Reserve<\/a>, to pull off synthetic identity fraud:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201c[\u2026] perpetrators combine fictitious and sometimes real information, such as SSNs and names, to create new identities to defraud financial institutions, government agencies or individuals.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\nSo, for example, this means that instead of just using John\u2019s Smith\u2019s identity to commit fraud, the criminal will instead use John Smith\u2019s social security number to create a new identity called Jack Sparrow. They\u2019d then use images of John Smith (or someone else) that they find online and on social platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cybercriminals often use social media to create profiles for their fraudulent identities to help legitimize these fake personas, which they can then use to apply for credit cards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
16. 1.3 Billion Social Media Users\u2019 Data Compromised<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nBromium and McGuire report that within the past five years, the data of more than 1.3 billion social media users has been compromised. Considering that there\u2019s 3.8 billion social media users globally, that means that more than one-third of all users worldwide have had their data compromised in that time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
17. Facebook Reports Having 275 Million Duplicate Accounts in 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nFacebook is a technology giant with 2.5 billion monthly active users (MAUs) reported as of Dec. 31, 2019. But being such a behemoth isn\u2019t without its troubles. For example, the company reported to their U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings report<\/a> that 11% of their global MAUs were actually duplicate accounts. <\/p>\n\n\n\nAccording to the report:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn the fourth quarter of 2019, we estimated that duplicate accounts may have represented approximately 11% of our worldwide MAUs. We believe the percentage of duplicate accounts is meaningfully higher in developing markets such as the Philippines and Vietnam, as compared to more developed markets.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n18. Facebook Reports 125 Million Monthly Active Users in 2019 Were Fake Accounts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nBut duplicate accounts weren\u2019t Facebook\u2019s only issue concerning their monthly active users last year. According to Facebook\u2019s Dec. 31, 2019 SEC annual report, false user accounts are also an issue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn the fourth quarter of 2019, we estimated that false accounts may have represented approximately 5% of our worldwide MAUs. Our estimation of false accounts can vary as a result of episodic spikes in the creation of such accounts, which we have seen originate more frequently in specific countries such as Indonesia and Vietnam.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\nBut what qualify as false accounts?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \u201cUser-misclassified accounts\u201d \u2014 personal profiles that are created for organizations and non-human entities (such as pets) instead of pages; and<\/li>
- \u201cViolating accounts\u201d \u2014 user profiles that are used for spam, bots, and other activities that violate the platform\u2019s terms of service.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
19. Identity Theft Among the Top Three Most Reported Scams in Australia<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nIdentity theft was the third most commonly reported scam with 11,373 victims reported in 2019, according to data from the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission\u2019s Crime Watch website. The two most commonly reported scam methods that had more victims were phishing (25,170) and scams that involved \u201cthreats to life, arrest or other\u201d (13,375).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
20. 99% of Social Media Users Access Platforms via Smartphones<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nAccount takeover should be a concern for anyone who uses digital technology to access financial and banking apps, email accounts, and other personal information. And the use of malicious websites that contain malware is a constant threat. So, what happens if social users click on malicious links that are shared in posts and private messages?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Considering that DataReportal\u2019s Digital 2020 April Global Snapshot<\/a> reports that nearly all social media access their favorite social platforms using their mobile devices, it means that any personal information and apps with saved credentials on those devices are at risk to account takeover or identity theft scams.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSocial Media Scam Statistics: Catfishing, Romance and Dating Scams<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
First, let\u2019s start with a clarification. While some online romance fraud scams are considered catfishing scams, not all online romance scams are catfish. It\u2019s kind of like the distinction of how all types of apples are fruit, but not all fruits are apples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The BBB makes this important distinction between the two types of scams:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn a typical catfishing scheme, the catfisher sets out to deceive his or her victim, but does not at first intend to take money; in a romance scam, the perpetrator intends from the beginning to defraud the victim.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\nWith this in mind, here are some of the top social media scam statistics relating to online romance and catfishing scams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
21. More Than $475 Million in Losses from Confidence Fraud\/Romance Scams Reported in 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nIn their 2019 Internet Crime Report<\/a>, the FBI\u2019s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3<\/sup>) shows that there was $475,014,032 in reported losses due to confidence fraud and romance scams in 2019 alone. The report also indicates that there were 19,473 reported victims in that same period. That\u2019s an average loss of $24,393.47 per person!<\/p>\n\n\n\n22. 20-30% of Romance Scam Victims Were Used as Money Mules in 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nDid you know that anywhere between 20 to 30 percent of romance scam victims<\/a> were used as \u201cmoney mules<\/a>\u201d in 2018? This data was reported in the Better Business Bureau (BBB). This means that they were used to do everything from receiving goods that were purchased using stolen credit cards to laundering money.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat makes this social media scam statistic even more sickening is that this type of scam doesn\u2019t affect just a few people \u2014 victims number in the thousands every year. And those are just the ones that we know about who report the crimes! The FBI\u2019s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reports that they believe that many romance scam victims never bother to come forward out of shame and embarrassment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
23. The USMC Awarded a $79,000 Contract to a Company to Develop a Tool to Stop Fake Social Profiles<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nScams involving the use of fake social media profiles of real U.S. Marines and other members of the armed forces are a big issue. The U.S. Marine Corps saw it as so much of an issue<\/a> that they awarded nearly an $80,000 contract to SNS Discovery Tool to develop a program that would mitigate phony social media profiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSocial Media Scam Statistics: Fraudulent Marketing Scams and Fake Influencer Traffic<\/h3>\n\n\n\n![\"Social](\"https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/social-media-scams-influencer-1024x640.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nEvery company and social media influencer is looking for ways to grow their audience. After all, the larger your reach, the more eyes that will see your ads and content. But social media fraud (SMF) services and fake social engagement make doing so a lot more difficult (and costly) for advertisers and companies to achieve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
24. Invalid Clicks Estimated to Cost Businesses Globally $23.7 Billion by the End of 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nData from Cheq<\/a>, an anti-fraud solutions company, and Professor Roberto Cavazos at the University of Baltimore\u2019s Merrick School of Business shows that 14% of paid per click (PPC) spending is invalid \u2014 a number that they expect to see grow. This means that they estimate invalid PPC clicks and paid social fraud will have an annual price tag of nearly $24 billion by the end of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSo, what\u2019s responsible for causing these invalid clicks? According to the report:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThese invalid clicks are driven by many different sources, from standard web crawlers, to malicious bots, click farms, ad-fraud schemes and even competitor clicks with the largest spending enterprise accounts hit hardest by sophisticated invalid click fraud.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n25. Fake Influencer Marketing to Cost Advertisers $1.5 Billion Annually in 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nInfluencer marketing is a big market \u2014 but not all influencers\u2019 audiences are what they seem to be. Data from another report by Cheq and Cavazos<\/a> shows that fake influencer marketing is anticipated to cost advertisers a cool $1.5 billion this year. That\u2019s because some influencers inflate their follower count by buying<\/p>\n\n\n\n26. Social Influencers Can Buy 1,000 Social Media Followers for as Little as $12<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nA 2017 academic research <\/a>a<\/a>rticle<\/a> from researchers at GoSecure Research and the University of Montreal shows that social media fraud is cheap and easy to pull off through the use of an IoT botnet. For example, take a look at some of the median prices per 1,000 followers that influencers can buy on some of the world\u2019s leading social media platforms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n- Facebook: $29<\/li>
- Twitter: $12<\/li>
- Instagram: $13<\/li>
- YouTube: $51<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Social Media Scam Statistics: The Use of Shortened URLs and Malicious Links<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
While some companies are good at keeping their uniform resource locators (URLs) short, some individuals go out of their way to create long ones that they know people won\u2019t bother to read. Fun fact: The longest URL in internet history<\/a> consists of a grand (and ridiculous) total of 2,083 characters.<\/p>\n\n\n\nTo combat growing URLs, people started using URL shorteners, or what are known as short links. The use of these shorteners has increased dramatically since the technology was first used in the early 2000s. And while these shortened redirects are great for making links shorter and more shareable, they\u2019re also a preferred tool of many threat actors. Why? Because they\u2019re great for helping cybercriminals hide malicious destination links.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Threat actors can use shortened URLs to drive their phishing campaigns or to force the download of malicious software such as cryptomining malware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
27. Bit.ly and Bitly.com Link Shorteners Are Used in Nearly 41% of Phishing Attacks<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nData from an article by Lookingglass Cyber Solutions<\/a> indicates that the link shorteners used in 40.9% of phishing attacks are bit.ly and bitly.com. But what are some of the other most commonly used (and abused) short links?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nBefore we jump right in to covering the top statistics related to specific social media scams, we thought it might be helpful to first cover some general social media industry related statistics to help provide some context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. More than 3.8 Billion People Are Using Social Media<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n DataReportal, in collaboration with Hootsuite and We Are Social, share in their Digital 2020 Global Overview Report<\/a> that there were more than 3.8 billion social media users at the start of 2020. That number is an increase of nine percent over what they reported in their previous annual report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Considering that the United Nations estimates that the world\u2019s current total population has surpassed 7.7 billion, this means that roughly half of the global population uses social media. That\u2019s a whole lot of potential targets for cybercriminals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. Social Media Cybercrimes Generate Global Revenue That Tops $3.25 Billion Annually<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Research from Bromium and Dr. Mike McGuire<\/a>, a Senior Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Surrey, shows that social media is a tool that cybercriminals love to use to their advantage. Their report<\/a> indicates that \u201csocial media-enabled cybercrimes are generating at least $3.25B in global revenue annually.\u201d Furthermore, the criminal revenues that are generated by social media-enabled fraud have increased more than 60% since 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Facebook Had Three of the Worse Cases of Data Exposure in 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Not once, twice, but three times<\/em> last year, Facebook was guilting of being the target of egregious data exposures, SonicWall reports in their SonicWall 2020 Cyber Threat Report<\/a>. The events, which occurred March 21, April 2, and Dec. 14, resulted in the exposure of between 267 million and 600 million users \u2014 or an average of 469 users \u2014 per incident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. Social Media Incidents of Abuse Increased Nearly 200% in 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Data from PhishLabs<\/a> indicates that in 2018, the abuse of social media increased almost 200%!<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5. One in Four Transactions on Social Networking and Dating Platforms Are Cyber Attacks<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Q2 2020 Fraud and Abuse report<\/a> from Arkose Labs reports that 27% of social transactions that took place between January and March 2020 were actually attacks. Furthermore, the report also shares that although they decreased in Q2 2020 compared to Q1 2020, \u201cOne-fifth of traffic on social media companies is an attack.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 6. Australians Report Losing Nearly $23 Million in Social Networking Scams in 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission\u2019s Crime Watch website<\/a> reports that there was $22,095,164 in reported losses from 8,195 victims in 2019. Now, compare this to the $15,769,203 in reported losses from 6,829 victims in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 7. Only 30% of U.S. Adults Understand What HTTPS Means in a URL<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s definitely not the kind of stat website and cybersecurity experts like to see. But according to the American Trends Panel Survey<\/a> from Pew Research Center, only three-in-10 respondents indicate that they understand that the \u201cHTTPS\u201d in a website address means a website is secure, meaning that the data is encrypted. This means that when they\u2019re clicking on links in social media posts, emails, or other channels, they 70% of those who do so may not actually know whether any information they share is secure<\/p>\n\n\n\n Current industry phishing statistics<\/a> show that phishing has been \u2014 and continues to be \u2014 a major issue for individuals and organizations alike. Threat actors are using all sorts of avenues to target their potential victims, and social media and social network platforms are among them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cybercriminals often use social media in two ways: they use it to gain useful information about their targets and as a way to trick them into doing something they shouldn\u2019t. The first is useful because it provides a means for criminals to learn important information that they can use to con individuals, as well as to guess their login credentials to compromise accounts. The second is a more straightforward method of attack and often involves the threat actor sending the victim a malicious link. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Some threat actors use tactics like developing quizzes and questionnaires that people share on their social accounts. While seemingly innocent, these quizzes are virtual data goldmines<\/a> for cybercriminals, which they can then use to take over accounts or commit identity theft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 8. Nearly Half of Internet Users Report Increasing Spam on Social Media<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The results of a HubSpot survey<\/a> of 542 internet users in the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom indicate that 46.9% of users have noticed more spam in their social media feeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 9. More than 12% of Phishing URL Clicks Were Accessed Via Social Media<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n An academic study of more than 7,000 malicious Bit.ly shortened URLs<\/a> (pulled from a total of more than 300,000 malicious URLs) shows that the majority were access directly, meaning via instant messages, email clients and applications. However, 12.14% of phishing URLs that were clicked on were accessed via social media and 3.67% via social networks. For malware URLs, the numbers of clicks were 8.33% of clicks were via social media and 8.32% were through social networks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 10. More Than 5% of Phishing Attacks Occur Via Social Media<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The PhishLabs research we mentioned a little earlier indicates that one-in-20 phishing attacks are associated with social media in some way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 11. 67%: How Many U.S. Adults Understand the Phishing Scams Can Occur Via Multiple Platforms<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The truth of the matter is that when it comes to phishing, social media is just one of any avenues of attack that cybercriminals choose to use. Others include the use of email, text messages (SMS texting), and websites. However, data from Pew Research Center\u2019s American Trends Panel survey of 4,272 panelists indicates that only two-thirds of those survey respondents actually understand that phishing scams can happen across multiple platforms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 12. 96% of Organizations in Japan Reported Experiencing Social Media Phishing Attacks in 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n More than nine-in-10 Japanese organizations that participated in Proofpoint\u2019s 2020 State of the Phish report<\/a> indicate that they experienced at least one social media attack in 2019. Half reported 1-10 attacks in that time, and another 23% said they experienced between 11 and 25 such attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 13. 78% of U.S. Organizations Reported Experiencing Social Media Phishing Attacks in 2019<\/strong> A person\u2019s identity is among their most valuable intangible possessions. If a cybercriminal takes over their identity, as most identity theft survivors will tell you, it\u2019s a nightmare to deal with and is something you\u2019ll struggle with for years to come. But despite these concerns, social media users are often times willing to share personal data and personally identifiable information (PII) about themselves on social media that they\u2019d never do in a face-to-face setting with strangers. Cybercriminals know this and use these platforms in different ways to gain valuable information about their targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 14. Email and Social Media Identity Theft Increased 10% in 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reports in their Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2019<\/a> that there were 650,572 cases of identity theft reported in 2019. Their data also shows that email and social media-based identity theft increased 10% in 2019 to 10,356 reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 15. 20% of Identity Fraud Losses Large Banks Incur Is Due to Synthetic Identity Theft<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Although you may not be familiar with the term, synthetic identity theft is reportedly the world\u2019s fastest-growing financial crime<\/a>. This type of crime involves the creation of a new, fake identity using a target\u2019s PII (including their social security number) and images that the cybercriminals get from social media accounts and other online sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to a report by the Federal Reserve<\/a>, to pull off synthetic identity fraud:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c[\u2026] perpetrators combine fictitious and sometimes real information, such as SSNs and names, to create new identities to defraud financial institutions, government agencies or individuals.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n So, for example, this means that instead of just using John\u2019s Smith\u2019s identity to commit fraud, the criminal will instead use John Smith\u2019s social security number to create a new identity called Jack Sparrow. They\u2019d then use images of John Smith (or someone else) that they find online and on social platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cybercriminals often use social media to create profiles for their fraudulent identities to help legitimize these fake personas, which they can then use to apply for credit cards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 16. 1.3 Billion Social Media Users\u2019 Data Compromised<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bromium and McGuire report that within the past five years, the data of more than 1.3 billion social media users has been compromised. Considering that there\u2019s 3.8 billion social media users globally, that means that more than one-third of all users worldwide have had their data compromised in that time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 17. Facebook Reports Having 275 Million Duplicate Accounts in 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Facebook is a technology giant with 2.5 billion monthly active users (MAUs) reported as of Dec. 31, 2019. But being such a behemoth isn\u2019t without its troubles. For example, the company reported to their U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings report<\/a> that 11% of their global MAUs were actually duplicate accounts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the report:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn the fourth quarter of 2019, we estimated that duplicate accounts may have represented approximately 11% of our worldwide MAUs. We believe the percentage of duplicate accounts is meaningfully higher in developing markets such as the Philippines and Vietnam, as compared to more developed markets.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n 18. Facebook Reports 125 Million Monthly Active Users in 2019 Were Fake Accounts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n But duplicate accounts weren\u2019t Facebook\u2019s only issue concerning their monthly active users last year. According to Facebook\u2019s Dec. 31, 2019 SEC annual report, false user accounts are also an issue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn the fourth quarter of 2019, we estimated that false accounts may have represented approximately 5% of our worldwide MAUs. Our estimation of false accounts can vary as a result of episodic spikes in the creation of such accounts, which we have seen originate more frequently in specific countries such as Indonesia and Vietnam.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n But what qualify as false accounts?<\/p>\n\n\n\n 19. Identity Theft Among the Top Three Most Reported Scams in Australia<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Identity theft was the third most commonly reported scam with 11,373 victims reported in 2019, according to data from the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission\u2019s Crime Watch website. The two most commonly reported scam methods that had more victims were phishing (25,170) and scams that involved \u201cthreats to life, arrest or other\u201d (13,375).<\/p>\n\n\n\n 20. 99% of Social Media Users Access Platforms via Smartphones<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Account takeover should be a concern for anyone who uses digital technology to access financial and banking apps, email accounts, and other personal information. And the use of malicious websites that contain malware is a constant threat. So, what happens if social users click on malicious links that are shared in posts and private messages?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Considering that DataReportal\u2019s Digital 2020 April Global Snapshot<\/a> reports that nearly all social media access their favorite social platforms using their mobile devices, it means that any personal information and apps with saved credentials on those devices are at risk to account takeover or identity theft scams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First, let\u2019s start with a clarification. While some online romance fraud scams are considered catfishing scams, not all online romance scams are catfish. It\u2019s kind of like the distinction of how all types of apples are fruit, but not all fruits are apples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The BBB makes this important distinction between the two types of scams:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn a typical catfishing scheme, the catfisher sets out to deceive his or her victim, but does not at first intend to take money; in a romance scam, the perpetrator intends from the beginning to defraud the victim.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n With this in mind, here are some of the top social media scam statistics relating to online romance and catfishing scams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 21. More Than $475 Million in Losses from Confidence Fraud\/Romance Scams Reported in 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In their 2019 Internet Crime Report<\/a>, the FBI\u2019s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3<\/sup>) shows that there was $475,014,032 in reported losses due to confidence fraud and romance scams in 2019 alone. The report also indicates that there were 19,473 reported victims in that same period. That\u2019s an average loss of $24,393.47 per person!<\/p>\n\n\n\n 22. 20-30% of Romance Scam Victims Were Used as Money Mules in 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Did you know that anywhere between 20 to 30 percent of romance scam victims<\/a> were used as \u201cmoney mules<\/a>\u201d in 2018? This data was reported in the Better Business Bureau (BBB). This means that they were used to do everything from receiving goods that were purchased using stolen credit cards to laundering money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What makes this social media scam statistic even more sickening is that this type of scam doesn\u2019t affect just a few people \u2014 victims number in the thousands every year. And those are just the ones that we know about who report the crimes! The FBI\u2019s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reports that they believe that many romance scam victims never bother to come forward out of shame and embarrassment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 23. The USMC Awarded a $79,000 Contract to a Company to Develop a Tool to Stop Fake Social Profiles<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Scams involving the use of fake social media profiles of real U.S. Marines and other members of the armed forces are a big issue. The U.S. Marine Corps saw it as so much of an issue<\/a> that they awarded nearly an $80,000 contract to SNS Discovery Tool to develop a program that would mitigate phony social media profiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every company and social media influencer is looking for ways to grow their audience. After all, the larger your reach, the more eyes that will see your ads and content. But social media fraud (SMF) services and fake social engagement make doing so a lot more difficult (and costly) for advertisers and companies to achieve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 24. Invalid Clicks Estimated to Cost Businesses Globally $23.7 Billion by the End of 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Data from Cheq<\/a>, an anti-fraud solutions company, and Professor Roberto Cavazos at the University of Baltimore\u2019s Merrick School of Business shows that 14% of paid per click (PPC) spending is invalid \u2014 a number that they expect to see grow. This means that they estimate invalid PPC clicks and paid social fraud will have an annual price tag of nearly $24 billion by the end of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, what\u2019s responsible for causing these invalid clicks? According to the report:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThese invalid clicks are driven by many different sources, from standard web crawlers, to malicious bots, click farms, ad-fraud schemes and even competitor clicks with the largest spending enterprise accounts hit hardest by sophisticated invalid click fraud.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n 25. Fake Influencer Marketing to Cost Advertisers $1.5 Billion Annually in 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Influencer marketing is a big market \u2014 but not all influencers\u2019 audiences are what they seem to be. Data from another report by Cheq and Cavazos<\/a> shows that fake influencer marketing is anticipated to cost advertisers a cool $1.5 billion this year. That\u2019s because some influencers inflate their follower count by buying<\/p>\n\n\n\n 26. Social Influencers Can Buy 1,000 Social Media Followers for as Little as $12<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A 2017 academic research <\/a>a<\/a>rticle<\/a> from researchers at GoSecure Research and the University of Montreal shows that social media fraud is cheap and easy to pull off through the use of an IoT botnet. For example, take a look at some of the median prices per 1,000 followers that influencers can buy on some of the world\u2019s leading social media platforms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n While some companies are good at keeping their uniform resource locators (URLs) short, some individuals go out of their way to create long ones that they know people won\u2019t bother to read. Fun fact: The longest URL in internet history<\/a> consists of a grand (and ridiculous) total of 2,083 characters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To combat growing URLs, people started using URL shorteners, or what are known as short links. The use of these shorteners has increased dramatically since the technology was first used in the early 2000s. And while these shortened redirects are great for making links shorter and more shareable, they\u2019re also a preferred tool of many threat actors. Why? Because they\u2019re great for helping cybercriminals hide malicious destination links.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Threat actors can use shortened URLs to drive their phishing campaigns or to force the download of malicious software such as cryptomining malware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 27. Bit.ly and Bitly.com Link Shorteners Are Used in Nearly 41% of Phishing Attacks<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Data from an article by Lookingglass Cyber Solutions<\/a> indicates that the link shorteners used in 40.9% of phishing attacks are bit.ly and bitly.com. But what are some of the other most commonly used (and abused) short links?<\/p>\n\n\n\nSocial Media Scam Statistics: Phishing Scams and Other Social Engineering Attacks<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
U.S. organizations reportedly experienced fewer social media attacks than their Japanese counterparts in 2019, according to data from Proofpoint\u2019s 2020 State of the Phish annual report. One-quarter of respondents indicate that they experienced 1-10 phishing attacks, and another 26% indicate that they experienced between 11 and 50 such attacks during the year. <\/p>\n\n\n\nSocial Media Scam Statistics: Identity Theft, Account Takeover, and Duplicate & Fake Accounts<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nSocial Media Scam Statistics: Catfishing, Romance and Dating Scams<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Social Media Scam Statistics: Fraudulent Marketing Scams and Fake Influencer Traffic<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nSocial Media Scam Statistics: The Use of Shortened URLs and Malicious Links<\/h3>\n\n\n\n