Tech giant Meta has consistently found itself in hot water in recent months following a series of reports and news stories highlighting the volume of scam ads which are run on its platforms. And a fresh report from Reuters this morning suggests that despite pressure from regulators, the company is still failing to adequately filter out fraudulent and illegal ads.
In the UK, companies have to be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to run ads for certain risky financial products, including foreign exchange trading and contracts for difference (CFDs). Yet during one week last November, the FCA identified 1,052 ads running on Meta’s platforms promoting these products which were created by unauthorised businesses. Over half of these were from advertisers which the FCA had previously flagged to Meta.
While Meta has said it works quickly to take down scam ads and has pledged to tackle the issue, a separate test run by Reuters suggests that the tech giant is moving more forcefully in markets where there are greater legal ramifications for enabling fraudulent ads.
In the UK, while the types of ads identified by the FCA are illegal, it can only take action against the advertisers themselves, rather than platforms like Meta which show those ads. In Australia, meanwhile, Meta can be fined up to A$50 million if fraudulent ads escape its detection. When Reuters tried running a suspicious investment ad in both markets, it was swiftly blocked in Australia, but allowed to run in the UK.
Patience growing thin
The news comes a week after industry trade group IAB Sweden revoked Meta’s membership, arguing that its action against deceptive advertising has been insufficient. Frustration with the company has been notably strong in Sweden, with a number of media companies last year filing a police report against Meta’s founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg personally. Those media groups said that scam ads on Meta’s platforms in some cases lean on their own hard-earned reputations, using images of their journalists or linking to spoof websites designed to look like their own. When they raised their concerns with Meta, they claim that no action was taken.
Meta continues to defend itself, saying it takes efforts to combat scam ads seriously. In today’s Reuters report, a Meta spokesperson said the company fights fraud and scams aggressively, and that “any suggestion that [Meta ignores] FCA reports misrepresents [its] ongoing efforts to protect people”.
Regardless of Meta’s efforts, it still certainly seems to be the case that scam ads are able to slip through the net, even if they are taken down within days. A quick search of Meta’s ad library this morning surfaced multiple examples of suspicious-looking live campaigns running in the UK. These ads include lines such as “I turned £350 into £94,600 in two months”, and “We paid off our mortgage… in just ONE day!!!”.
One campaign seen by VideoWeek used the same sort of tactics described by the Swedish media companies. It was framed as a post from an ex-NHS worker, who quit their job after following financial advice they read on a BBC News article, earning over £35,000 in three months. The ad links to a spoofed BBC News article on a domain called ‘pattern-summit.live’.
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