Recently, internal documents from U.S. tech giant Meta have been revealed, showing that approximately 10% of the company’s 2024 revenue came from fraudulent and prohibited goods advertisements. According to the internal estimates, Meta’s social platforms display around 15 billion fraudulent ads to users every day.
This indicates significant flaws in the company’s advertising business. The internal documents reveal that the social media giant has failed to identify and block a large volume of non-compliant ads for at least the past three years, exposing billions of users on its platforms — including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp — to fraudulent e-commerce, investment scams, online gambling, banned medical products, and more.
Meta internally estimates that 16billionofits2024revenue—aboutone−tenthofitstotalincome—camefromscamandprohibitedproductads.Alone,“high−risk”scamadsareestimatedtocontributeapproximately7 billion annually to Meta’s revenue.
The files show that about one-third of successful scams in the U.S. are linked to Meta. Many of these scam ads originate from advertisers already flagged by Meta as “suspicious.” However, Meta’s control systems stipulate that an advertiser is only banned when the system assesses their likelihood of engaging in fraud to be over 95%.
For those deemed high-risk but not yet meeting the ban threshold, Meta employs a controversial practice: charging these suspicious advertisers higher ad rates as a form of “penalty.” This approach has drawn sharp criticism, as it effectively allows scammers to maintain visibility by paying more.
Additionally, the documents indicate that Meta’s ad review policies clearly favor large clients. Small advertisers are banned after being flagged at least eight times for suspected financial fraud, while large clients can continue advertising even with over 500 violations.
The files also point out that because Meta’s ad personalization system delivers content based on user interests, users who click on scam ads are more likely to see additional scam-related ads. This algorithmic loop traps users — especially vulnerable groups — in a vicious cycle of fraudulent advertising exposure.
Meta is aware that its platforms have become a major conduit for global scam economies. As early as May this year, Meta’s security team estimated that about one-third of successful scams in the U.S. involved its platforms. Internal reviews also found that scammers generally believe “it’s easier to place scam ads on Meta than on Google.”
Another internal document from February 2025 reveals that while scam ads could face regulatory fines of up to 1billion,thecompanycanearn3.5 billion from high-risk scam ads within just six months.
In a separate 2025 internal document, Meta acknowledged plans to reduce revenue from scam ads in the future but also expressed concern that such a reduction might impact its overall business outlook.
Weighing the two, massive revenue clearly outweighed compliance considerations. The team responsible for reviewing suspicious ads has even been given a strict cap: any enforcement action must not result in a total revenue loss exceeding 0.15% — that is, $135 million.
In response, a Meta spokesperson stated that the company is actively combating fraud and scams, saying, “Because the people on our platforms don’t want this content, legitimate advertisers don’t want it, and neither do we.” The spokesperson added that over the past 18 months, Meta has reduced the number of user-reported scam ads globally by 58%. “As of 2025, we have removed over 134 million pieces of scam ad content.”
The issue of scam ads on Meta platforms has drawn close attention from global regulators. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has launched an investigation into Meta’s display of financial scam ads. Data from UK regulators shows that in 2023, 54% of losses related to payment scams involved Meta platforms — more than all other social media platforms combined.