Meta's New Scam Ad Crackdown: What's Actually Changing
If you've scrolled through Facebook or Instagram lately, you've probably seen them: ads featuring celebrities hawking miracle weight loss supplements they've never endorsed, fake brand promotions offering deals too good to be true, or sketchy cryptocurrency schemes using stolen logos and testimonials. These scam ads have become increasingly prevalent across Meta's platforms.
After years of criticism over fraudulent advertising, Meta announced new tools designed to help businesses fight back against scam ads at scale. But what's actually changing, and will these updates make a meaningful difference?
The Scale of the Problem
According to Meta's own data, the company removed more than 157 million ads globally from Facebook and Instagram for violations related to fraud, scams, and deceptive business practices in 2024 alone. This represents a massive volume of fraudulent content that made it past initial screening processes and required manual review for removal.
The problem has drawn regulatory attention. The ACCC has instituted Federal Court proceedings against Facebook owner Meta Platforms, Inc. in Australia over alleged misleading conduct for publishing scam celebrity crypto ads, highlighting the global nature of this issue.
Meta has become a digital flea market of scams: fake puppy sales from Cameroon, fake giveaways for random junk, and fake investment fraud schemes featuring AI-generated voices of famous people, according to a recent VICE investigation.
What's New in Meta's Anti-Scam Tools
Meta's updated Brand Rights Protection (BRP) tool introduces several changes to how businesses can flag fraudulent advertising:
Expanded Reporting Scope
All businesses enrolled in Brand Rights Protection will now have access to scam ad reporting capabilities, enabling them to report suspected scam or misleading ads at scale — even if the ads do not directly use their intellectual property. This means businesses can report ads that harm their industry's reputation or promote dangerous products in their sector, not just ads that steal their specific branding.
New "Other" Violation Category
Those targeting scam ads specifically are advised to choose the "Other" violation type in the Ads section. This addresses situations where scam ads combine multiple violation types or don't clearly fall under existing categories.
Organized Sub-Categories
The redesigned system now features sub-tabs for different violation types — Copyright, Counterfeit, Impersonation, and Trademark — under the Drafts section, along with improved search and filtering tools in the Reports tab using email IDs, keywords, and trademark names.
Real-World Scam Examples
The types of scams these tools are designed to combat are varied and sophisticated:
Celebrity "Bait" Scams: Celeb-bait scams involve using a celebrity's image or name to lure potential victims. Scammers do this to make their schemes appear more legitimate and enticing. Fraudsters may claim that a celebrity has endorsed a specific investment offering or ask for sensitive personal information in exchange for a free giveaway.
Investment and Crypto Fraud: Scammers are running ads in the names of famous social media influencers and celebrities. These fake ads on social media are designed to dupe innocent people with promises of stock market tips, crypto investments, preferred investment plans, quick returns, penny stocks, and more.
Fake Giveaways: Watch for: Free game betas or giveaways, especially ones that require downloads. Celebrity endorsements promoting crypto, weight loss pills, or supplements. Mimicked news articles or fake media logos. Urgent claims or miracle results, which are classic scam tactics.
Meta's Additional Anti-Scam Measures
Beyond the Brand Rights Protection updates, Meta is also testing facial recognition technology to combat "celeb bait" ads. If our systems suspect that an ad may be a scam that contains the image of a public figure at risk for celeb bait, we will try to use facial recognition technology to compare faces in the ad to the public figure's Facebook and Instagram profile pictures. If we confirm a match and determine the ad is a scam, we'll block it.
This technology has shown promising early results. Early testing with a small group of celebrities and public figures shows promising results in increasing the speed and efficacy with which we can detect and enforce against this type of scam.
Limitations of Platform Self-Regulation
These tools represent platform self-regulation rather than external oversight. The system's reach currently covers Facebook and Instagram, though scam activity has also been spotted on WhatsApp, where the same enforcement measures are not in place.
Scammers are relentless and continuously evolve their tactics to evade detection, as Meta acknowledges. The fundamental challenge remains: scammers can create new advertising accounts faster than they can be banned, and the profit margins on fraudulent products often justify the cost of circumventing platform controls.
Industry Applications
The effectiveness of these tools will likely vary by business type:
E-commerce companies dealing with counterfeit versions of their products may benefit from the dedicated counterfeit reporting category and organized sub-tabs.
Service businesses in industries frequently targeted by scammers (finance, health, education) can now report ads that damage their sector's credibility beyond direct trademark violations.
Content creators facing fake endorsement ads have clearer pathways for reporting through the impersonation category, especially with Meta's enhanced facial recognition capabilities for public figures.
Official Resources and Getting Started
Businesses interested in using Meta's new anti-scam tools can access them through Meta's Brand Rights Protection system. The updated interface is available now for all business accounts on Facebook and Instagram.
For more information on Meta's anti-scam efforts, see their official announcement: Testing New Ways to Combat Scams and Help Restore Access to Compromised Accounts.
Key steps include:
Enrolling in Meta's Brand Rights Protection program
Familiarizing yourself with the new violation categories
Setting up regular monitoring for your brand name and industry
Documenting violations with screenshots before reporting
Using the enhanced search and filtering features to track submitted reports
The Bottom Line
Meta's expanded Brand Rights Protection tool addresses specific pain points in the violation reporting process, particularly around categorization and tracking. The addition of scam ad reporting capabilities beyond direct IP violations represents a meaningful expansion of available protections.
However, while the adversarial nature of this space means we won't always get it right, as Meta acknowledges. These tools don't change the underlying economics that make scam advertising profitable or provide proactive protection against new violations.
For businesses experiencing frequent brand impersonation or seeing scam ads in their industry, these tools may reduce the administrative burden of reporting violations and improve response times. The key will be consistent monitoring and prompt reporting when violations are discovered.
Will it stop all the fake ads? Probably not. Will Karen from Wisconsin still try to sell you crypto with The Rock's face on it? Most likely. But for businesses that have been struggling with scam ads hijacking their reputation, Meta's update might actually help them fight back more effectively.
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While these tools won't eliminate scam advertising, they provide more organized and comprehensive options for businesses to protect their brands and report fraudulent content affecting their industries.