Feed: Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
Feed Link: https://www.engadget.com/
---

Title: Meta is making billions of dollars from scam ads on Facebook,
Instagram and WhatsApp, report says

Link: https://www.engadget.com/social-media/meta-is...

Meta is making billions of dollars every year from ads marketing scams and
illegal products on its platform, according to a new report from Reuters. The
report details the staggering numbers behind scam ads on Meta's platform, and
raises fresh questions about why the company has failed to get the problem in
check.

Last year, Meta estimated that scam ads could account for as much as 10
percent of its revenue, a total that would amount to about $16 billion,
according to documents reported by Reuters. This includes ads for "fraudulent
e-commerce and investment schemes, illegal online casinos, and the sale of
banned medical products." In fact, scams on Meta's platform are so far-
reaching that researchers at the company estimated that its apps "were
involved in a third of all successful scams in the U.S."

The report also outlines how Meta has at times made it harder for its own
teams to fight such ads, and how its own processes allow for repeat offenders
to continue buying ads. It says that a "small advertiser" caught "promoting
financial fraud" wouldn't be blocked until they were flagged "at least eight
times." Meta has been even more lenient with "bigger spenders," which have
reportedly been permitted to "accrue more than 500 strikes" without being
removed from the platform.

That may sound shockingly permissive, particularly compared to Meta's
standards for users on its platform, but the Reuters report highlights how
high the stakes are for Meta. The report notes that just four ad campaigns
removed by Meta this year accounted for $67 million in revenue for the
company. The report says that internally, executives have grappled with how
to bring scam ads under control without adversely affecting the company's
bottom line. At one point, managers were reportedly told not to "take actions
that could cost Meta more than 0.15% of the companyΓÇÖs total revenue."

In response to the report, Meta told Reuters that the estimated 10 percent of
revenue from scam ads was "rough and overly-inclusive,ΓÇ¥ but didn't share an
alternative figure. "Over the past 18 months, we have reduced user reports of
scam ads globally by 58 percent and, so far in 2025, weΓÇÖve removed more
than 134 million pieces of scam ad content,ΓÇ¥ spokesperson Andy Stone said.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at
https://www.engadget.com/social-media/meta-is...
scam-ads-on-facebook-instagram-and-whatsapp-report-says-
184128645.html?src=rss

---
VRSS v2.1.180528