Last year, Meta projected that ten percent of its overall annual revenue, which is sixteen billion dollars, would come from fraudulent advertisements on its apps. This is according to a report from Reuters. The documents accessed by Reuters also show that for three years, Meta failed to protect its users from ads promoting illegal gambling, investment schemes, and banned medical products. These fraudulent ads claim to offer a product or service that is not real, and they may be intended to solicit payments from less savvy users.
Meta has a system for detecting the likelihood that an advertising campaign is a scam. However, the company only deactivates an advertiser’s account if it is ninety-five percent sure that the advertiser is committing fraud. Otherwise, Meta will charge more money from advertisers that it suspects may be committing fraud as a way to discourage them from buying more advertising. But when those advertisers follow through anyway, it increases Meta’s profits.
TechCrunch contacted Meta for comment but did not hear back before publication. According to the Reuters report, Meta spokesperson Andy Stone claimed that the documents used present a selective view that distorts the company’s approach to fraud and scams. Stone added that over the last eighteen months, Meta has reduced user reports of scam ads by fifty-eight percent. The company has also removed over one hundred thirty-four million scam ads from its platforms.