Researchers estimate that social media scams have climbed to 437,165, which is almost double the number from 2016. Attackers in these campaigns employ various techniques, but all are designed to steal financial information, sensitive data, distribute malware and take over accounts. Most use a very personal approach where scammers research the personal information of victims using public information, membership lists or groups, "liked" content on social media, timeline information, and demographics before making their approach.