By Vicky Sidler | Published 11 February 2026 at 12:00 GMT+2

If you have ever scrolled past a suspicious video of a celebrity promising easy money and thought, “Well, that feels off,” congratulations. Your instincts are still working. Unfortunately, a lot of people clicked anyway, and according to new research, it cost them more than a billion dollars in one year.

A new study from Surfshark shows that deepfake-related fraud exploded in 2025, with losses hitting $1.1 billion globally. That figure nearly tripled from the year before, and social media platforms were not just involved. They were the main stage where most of these scams played out.

According to Surfshark’s January 2026 cybersecurity report, 83 percent of all deepfake-related financial losses in 2025 originated on social media platforms, with a heavy concentration on a small number of familiar apps.

TL;DR:

• Deepfake fraud losses reached $1.1 billion in 2025, nearly tripling year on year

• 83 percent of losses started on social media platforms

• Facebook, WhatsApp, and Telegram accounted for most deepfake scam activity

• Celebrity investment scams made up the vast majority of losses

• Small business owners are targeted through trust, urgency, and familiar platforms

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Table of Contents:

Why Social Media Became the Perfect Scam Engine:

Social media was not designed to be a financial crime hub, but it turned into one anyway, mostly because it runs on trust, familiarity, and speed. These are wonderful qualities for keeping in touch with customers, and terrible qualities when someone is trying to steal your money.

Surfshark’s data shows that Facebook alone accounted for $491 million in deepfake scam losses in 2025. WhatsApp followed with $199 million, and Telegram came in at $167 million. Together, those three platforms made up more than 90 percent of all deepfake-related losses tied to social media.

This is not because these platforms are inherently evil, but because they are familiar. People already trust them. Messages arrive alongside real conversations with friends, colleagues, clients, and family members. That context lowers our guard before we even realize it has happened.

Miguel Fornes, Information Security Manager at Surfshark, points out that messaging platforms in particular benefit from what he calls relational trust. If a message shows up in a space normally reserved for people you know, your brain does less checking and more believing.

The Celebrity Trap That Keeps Working:

If you are wondering what kind of deepfake scams caused most of the damage, the answer is depressingly simple. Fake investment opportunities promoted by famous people.

According to Surfshark, celebrity impersonation scams accounted for 80 percent of all deepfake-related losses in 2025 and a staggering 96 percent of losses that happened on social media. That adds up to roughly $886 million disappearing into scams dressed up as expert advice.

Scammers used convincing video and audio to impersonate well-known figures, business leaders, and financial experts, often promising exclusive investment opportunities or time sensitive returns. These videos look polished, sound confident, and exploit the same psychological shortcut marketing has always used. If someone important says it, it must be true.

One extreme example involved the global engineering firm Arup, where an employee joined a video call in which every other participant was a deepfake. The fake CFO convinced the employee to approve a $25 million payment before the truth emerged.

On a more personal level, scammers repeatedly used the image of Brad Pitt in romance scams, with individual victims losing hundreds of thousands of dollars after forming emotional connections with convincing synthetic personas.

Why Small Business Owners Are Especially Vulnerable:

As a StoryBrand Certified Guide and Duct Tape Marketing Consultant, I see this pattern all the time. Small business owners are busy, practical, and used to making fast decisions. They also spend a lot of time on social platforms where business and personal life blend together.

Deepfake scams do not rely on technical brilliance alone. They rely on urgency, authority, and emotional hooks. An opportunity that looks urgent, comes from a trusted source, and promises relief from financial pressure is hard to ignore when you are running a service-based business.

Older business owners are particularly at risk, according to Surfshark’s experts, because they are less familiar with visual glitches and audio inconsistencies that younger users have learned to spot through years of filters, games, and synthetic media.

How to Protect Yourself Without Becoming Paranoid:

The bad news is that no platform has fully solved this problem yet. Even companies like Meta rely on a mix of human moderators and emerging verification standards that are still catching up to reality.

The good news is that most deepfake scams still follow very old rules, just wrapped in newer technology.

If a video promises spectacular gains, appeals strongly to emotion, or pressures you to act fast, pause. If a private message asks for money, investment, or secrecy, verify it outside the platform. If a famous person is offering you financial advice, assume it is fake until proven otherwise.

One of the simplest and most effective protections is clarity. Clear verification processes. Clear internal rules about payments. Clear boundaries around what you will and will not respond to online.

Marketing works the same way. When your message is clear, people trust you. When it is vague, emotional, or rushed, mistakes happen.

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Related Articles:

1. Don't Do AI Research Before Answering This One Question

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2. Browser Privacy Risk 2026: Yandex, Chrome, and Edge Collect the Most Data

Deepfakes target you from the outside, but browser privacy issues make you vulnerable from the inside. Read this next to understand how your everyday tools are part of the problem.

3. AI Is Making Big Decisions in South Africa Without You

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4. AI Slop Just Killed Bug Bounties for Good

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5. Why Smart Businesses Are Ditching Free AI Tools in 2026

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Frequently Asked Questions About Deepfake Scams and Social Media Fraud

1. What is a deepfake scam, and how does it work?

A deepfake scam uses artificial intelligence to create fake videos or audio that look and sound real. Scammers often impersonate celebrities or business leaders to trick people into sending money or investing in fake opportunities.

2. How much money did people lose to deepfakes in 2025?

According to Surfshark, deepfake-related scams cost victims over $1.1 billion in 2025. That’s nearly three times higher than in 2024.

3. Which social media platforms are most affected by deepfake scams?

Facebook had the highest losses at $491 million, followed by WhatsApp at $199 million and Telegram at $167 million. These three platforms accounted for over 90 percent of all deepfake scam losses on social media.

4. Why are small business owners targeted by deepfake scams?

Scammers target business owners because they make fast decisions, use messaging apps for work, and are often under pressure. That mix makes it easier to trick them with fake videos or urgent requests.

5. How can I tell if a video is a deepfake?

Look for visual glitches like unnatural lighting or strange facial movements. Listen for audio that sounds robotic or poorly synced. If something feels off, trust your gut and verify the source.

6. Are deepfake scams only about fake investments?

No. While fake investments are the most common, deepfakes are also used in romance scams, fake emergencies, and even corporate fraud involving fake executives on video calls.

7. What should I do if I get a message from a celebrity about an investment?

Assume it’s fake. Check the company’s official website or the celebrity’s real social media accounts. Never trust investment advice from a video without confirming the source.

8. Can scammers use my own social media content to create a deepfake of me?

Yes. The more public photos and videos you share, especially ones with clear audio and video, the easier it is for scammers to clone your voice and appearance. Lock down your privacy settings.

9. What’s the best way to protect my business from deepfake scams?

Use clear internal payment processes, question urgent or emotional messages, and always verify requests through a second channel. Educate your team and keep your platforms secure.

10. Is there a free tool to help me make my business message clearer and more trustworthy?

Yes. Download the5-Minute Marketing Fix to write a clear, simple sentence that explains what you do and builds immediate trust.