A new report from the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) projects that Americans are losing an estimated $119 billion every year to online scams. This “true” cost of scams is estimated to be over seven times higher than what was reported to the FBI in 2024, and comes as Americans reported losing $16.6 billion to online scams, a 33 percent increase from the previous year.

The report also identifies Meta’s platforms — Facebook at 57%, Instagram at 22%, and WhatsApp at 8% — as the top three online platforms associated with scams, according to the Better Business Bureau. The Global Anti-Scam Alliance has also found that 81 percent of all scam attempts in the US occurred on platforms with a direct message function.