Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has refuted allegations that over half of the crypto ads on its platform are scams, arguing that the data supporting these claims is outdated and that significant measures have been implemented to address the issue.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) recently submitted a filing to federal court as part of its ongoing 2022 lawsuit, claiming that 58% of the crypto ads it reviewed on Facebook were scams.
In a statement, a Meta spokesperson said,
"The data in the ACCC’s statement of claim relies on old information from 2018 and is from a limited data set," adding that "other contact methods are still the top way people are scammed."
Data from the Australian government’s Scamwatch website claims that most scams are initiated by means other than social media.
The spokesperson further argued that it's unlikely the ACCC’s “data is an accurate representation of our platform today,” explaining that
“The preliminary analysis referred to is an allegation in the ACCC’s claim and relates to a historic internal study from 2018 of a small sample of ads. Meta is defending the ACCC’s claim and will respond to the allegation in due course.”
The also spokesperson added
“Scammers use every platform available to them and constantly adapt to evade enforcement. Meta doesn’t want scams on its platforms and we will continue to work tirelessly to prevent them and protect our users.”
The ACCC claims it identified 600 ads during its investigation and that since “at least January 2018,” Meta has been aware that many of the crypto ads on Facebook have used misleading promotional practices.
The commission also alleged that while Meta does take down individual ads once complaints are received and bans associated accounts, it continues to earn revenue from similar ads.
However, Meta argues it has been doing more to curb the scam ads. The Meta spokesperson said,
“We currently use, and continue to explore, a variety of methods, such as new machine learning techniques, to identify content and accounts that violate our policy.”
Meta reported that in the first quarter of 2024, it removed 631 million fake accounts and 436 million pieces of spam content from Facebook, with 99.4% of fake accounts and 98.2% of spam content being actioned before users reported it.
Several celebrities have taken legal action over what they argue is Meta’s inaction regarding crypto and related scams using their likeness. Billionaire Australian mining tycoon Andrew Forrest filed a civil suit against Meta in California Northern District Court in June 2022, claiming “Facebook’s self-help advertising interface materially helped scammers develop” ads.
Divya Das and Kim Bildsøe Lassen, hosts of popular Danish television shows, reported Meta to the police in April after discovering their images had been used in thousands of Facebook ads without their knowledge.
In April, four scam victims in Japan also launched legal action after being duped by online investment ads that used images of celebrities to draw people in.
