Meta Faces Criticism Over Surge in Scam Ads Targeting Seniors on Facebook and Instagram

Email:online@newsofbahrain.com

Menlo Park, CA: Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is facing renewed criticism after a new report alleged that scam advertisements targeting seniors continue to spread widely across its platforms.

The report by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) claims that 30 highly active scam accounts generated an estimated 215 million ad impressions over the past year. Crucially, about 73% of these impressions reached users aged 65 and above. Many of these ads reportedly use fake endorsements featuring public figures such as Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Oprah Winfrey, Brad Pitt, and Steve Harvey to build a false sense of legitimacy.

According to the report, these advertisements typically lure users into clicking links or calling phone numbers by promising benefits like free groceries, rent assistance, or financial aid. Once engaged, victims are allegedly misled into sharing sensitive personal data or are redirected into unwanted services, including predatory Medicare-related schemes.

The advocacy group accused Meta of failing to adequately remove repeat offenders, noting that some advertisers with thousands of policy violations were still permitted to run ads. The CCDH also alleged a lack of consistency in enforcement, stating that nearly identical scam ads were removed in some instances but allowed to remain active in others.

Meta stated that it actively removes scam ads and claimed it took down over 159 million such advertisements last year alone. A company spokesperson noted that 92% of these were removed before being reported by users.