Meta tightens grip on scam advertisers

Meta is stepping up the fight against scams on its platforms by filing multiple lawsuits targeting companies and individuals in Brazil, China, and Vietnam who used deceptive tactics to run scam ads.

The company said it has taken technical enforcement actions in these cases, including suspending payment methods used in the scams, disabling accounts linked to those operations, and blocking domains associated with scam sites. Meta shared this information with industry partners so other platforms can block the same offenders.

In Brazil, individuals and companies were accused of using altered images and voices of celebrities, as well as deepfakes of a prominent physician, to promote unapproved healthcare products and sell courses teaching others how to replicate the tactics.

Meta also sued a China-based technology firm it says used celebrity-bait ads to lure users in the United States and Japan into fraudulent investment groups.

“To fight celeb-bait scams, we developed protections for celebrities whose images are repeatedly used in these schemes. This program currently protects the images of more than 500,000 celebrities and public figures around the world,” the company said in the announcement.

In Vietnam, Meta brought a case against an individual accused of running a subscription fraud scheme that used cloaking to bypass ad review systems and generate unauthorized recurring charges.

The company said it is improving its ability to detect cloaking using AI tools that help identify harmful redirects, reject scam ads more quickly, and respond faster to user reports.

In recent years, Meta has faced growing criticism over its efforts to tackle scams. Some reports suggested that in 2024, up to 10% of its revenue was generated from ads tied to scams and banned goods.

Meta is also reviewing its Business Partner program to tighten oversight and reduce the risk of partners helping clients bypass enforcement systems.