Meta Projected $16 Billion Earnings from Fraudulent Ads on Facebook, Instagram in 2024: Report

Meta Platforms is said to have projected that 10.1 per cent of its 2024 revenue would come from ads for scams and banned goods. As per a report, some of the tech giant's practices and failures allowed fraudulent ads to run on its umbrella of apps like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. It is reported to have been hesitant to remove accounts, including the ones considered “scammiest scammers”, to avoid a potential drop in revenue that could affect the funding towards its artificial intelligence (AI) growth.

Meta Benefitted from Fraud Ads

Citing internal documents obtained from Meta, Reuters reported that the social media giant failed to identify and block ads related to fraudulent e-commerce products, investment schemes, illegal online casinos, and the sale of banned medical products for at least three years, across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

The company reportedly projected 10 percent of its total annual revenue in 2024, which amounts to about $16 billion (roughly Rs. 1.41 lakh crore), to be from such fraudulent advertisements.

Most of the ads were from marketers who were reported to have been acting with a degree of suspicion that would be enough to be flagged by the company's internal warning systems. The reported documents, however, show that advertisers are only banned if Meta's automated systems predict them to be at least 95 percent certain to be committing fraud. For those below this threshold, it reportedly charges higher ad rates as a penalty.

The internal documents also shed light on research by Meta's safety staff in May 2025, which reportedly revealed that the platforms under its umbrella were involved in one-third of all successful scams in the US. Further, it is also said to have acknowledged that its main rivals were better at curbing fraud on their respective platforms.

“It is easier to advertise scams on Meta platforms than Google,” an April 2025 internal Meta review reportedly read.

Internal documents from December 2024 reportedly reveal that the company shows its users about 15 billion “higher risk” scam advertisements each day. Meanwhile, another document contained details about Meta earning about $7 billion (roughly Rs. 62,000 crore) in annualised revenue from fraudulent ads.

In 2022, an internal document showed that a six-figure network of accounts impersonated the members of the US military who had been deployed in war zones. These accounts targeted Facebook users and blackmailed them by obtaining their sensitive images under false pretences. Accounts pretending to be celebrities were also reported.

Meta, however, had laid off the team that handled advertiser concerns about brand-rights issues. Further, it devoted a significantly high number of resources to its virtual reality (VR) and AI development teams, and members of its safety staff were reportedly ordered to restrict the use of Meta's computing resources and simply “keep the lights on.”

The company, however, denied these claims. In a statement to Reuters, Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said that the internal documents provided a “selective view that distorts Meta's approach to fraud and scams.”