Meta is reportedly earning billions of dollars each year from advertisements promoting scams and illegal products across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, according to a Reuters investigation. Internal company estimates cited in the report suggest that such ads may represent as much as 10 percent of Meta’s annual revenue — roughly $16 billion in 2024 — prompting renewed concerns about the company’s ability and willingness to curb fraudulent advertising on its platforms.
Reuters reported that these scam ads encompass fraudulent e-commerce and investment schemes, illegal online casinos, and banned medical products. Company researchers estimated that Meta’s apps were implicated in about one-third of all successful scams in the United States. Despite this scale, the report indicates that Meta’s internal enforcement systems have often allowed repeat offenders to continue advertising. Advertisers caught promoting financial fraud reportedly are not blocked until flagged at least eight times, while larger ad clients have allegedly accumulated more than 500 strikes without suspension.
The internal documents also described tension between revenue preservation and fraud control. In one example, Reuters said Meta executives were instructed not to take any enforcement action that could cost the company more than 0.15 percent of its total revenue. The report highlighted that four ad campaigns removed earlier this year alone generated $67 million for Meta before being taken down.
When asked to comment, Meta called the 10 percent estimate “rough and overly-inclusive” but did not provide an alternative figure. Company spokesperson Andy Stone told Reuters that Meta had reduced user reports of scam ads globally by 58 percent over the past 18 months and, in 2025, removed more than 134 million pieces of scam-related ad content.
Featured image credits: Julio Lopez via Pexels
For more stories like it, click the +Follow button at the top of this page to follow us.