Online fraudsters have taken billions of dollars from Americans in recent years and they are using social media to do it.

Since 2021, Americans lost $2.7 billion in scams from social media, the Federal Trade Commission said in a scam report published Friday. And that figure is only a fraction of the actual harm, as most cases of fraud go unreported, the agency noted.

People continue to fall victim to social media scams in part because criminals have a trove of techniques they use for finding their prey, Emma Fletcher, a senior data researcher for the FTC, wrote in an analysis of the scam report.

“They can easily manufacture a fake persona, or hack into your profile, pretend to be you, and con your friends,” Fletcher said. “They can learn to tailor their approach from what you share on social media.”