{"id":29352,"date":"2026-10-05T08:27:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T16:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spokeo.com\/compass\/?p=29352"},"modified":"2026-10-15T09:56:48","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T17:56:48","slug":"social-media-scam-ads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spokeo.com\/compass\/social-media-scam-ads\/","title":{"rendered":"Scam Ads on Your Feed? How to Stay Safe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

From the OG ice bucket challenge 100 years ago to the bugging dance challenge of 2026, social media is nothing without its trends. But while most things that have their fleeting moment on the timeline are harmless (except maybe the Tide Pod challenge of 2018 A.D.), one of last year\u2019s biggest social media trends was anything but: the FTC reported that in 2025<\/a>, shopping scams were the most prevalent type of grift on social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can\u2019t find you the best deals on TikTok Shop or let you know which bougie-looking Instagram Shop self-care item is actually a dropshipped dupe, but we can help you dodge those scam ads \u2013 these red flags will stop your doomscrolling quicker than a \u201clow battery\u201d notification.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scam Ads on Your Feed<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The key social media shopping scam in 2025 was misleading or fake ads, and these continue to be a major problem well into 2026. As the FTC reminds us<\/a>, these scam ads are so endemic largely because social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram don\u2019t thoroughly vet the ads themselves or the advertisers behind them. Basically, anyone at all can pay to place ads right on your feed, and that includes scammers.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The FTC reports that scam ad victims lost over $95 million as a result of misleading social media ads alone last year, with 30% of all money lost to scams happening on social media platforms. Total losses reached $2.1 billion<\/a> that year \u2013 that\u2019s eight times more than in 2020, and far more losses compared to scams played out via any other form of contact<\/a>. Even worse? Most scam victims don\u2019t report the incident, so these figures don\u2019t even come close to painting the full picture.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Scam Ads Work<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

For the most part, scams based on fake ads play out in a pretty simple fashion: you see an alluring ad for a product on your feed, you use your credit or debit card to buy that product, but you receive nothing in the mail. Or, in some cases, you get an off-brand, counterfeit, or noticeably low-quality product that doesn\u2019t resemble the scam ads much at all. Meanwhile, the scammer behind the fake ads receives your money, not to mention the banking information you used in the transaction.

That last part turns social media scam ads into a phishing scheme<\/a>, too. These are the kinds of scams in which criminals impersonate legitimate organizations<\/a> or businesses in order to get their hands on your financial and other sensitive information, including your login info<\/a> for the platform you\u2019re using. That means that once they have your valuable sensitive information, you might have even more money taken from you than what you initially paid for the faux product. Hence those huge scam stats we mentioned above.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The very nature of social media platforms \u2014 which are largely built to take advantage of your browsing habits \u2014 unfortunately makes them deeply well suited for these sorts of phishing scams. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the FTC puts it, \u201cSocial media can be a great way to connect, but can also make a scammer\u2019s job easier. They might hack into your account to scam your friends or even create entirely fake profiles. Or they might use what you post to figure out how to target you. And by buying ads, they get the same tools real businesses use to target you by age, interests, or shopping habits.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"woman<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Fake Ads: What To Look For<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The bad news: social media scam ads have become incredibly common. The good news: because <\/em>social media scam ads are so common, we have a pretty good idea of how to identify them. Before you hit the \u201cbuy\u201d button on a fake ad, vet it for red flags like these:   <\/p>\n\n\n\n