Just another reason to consider quitting Facebook: Meta makes billions of dollars from fake ads and scams
Meta is earning billions from scams and fake advertisements on its platforms.
If privacy breaches, data misuse, endless algorithm tweaks that manipulate what people see weren’t enough, Meta has just got itself into more trouble: the company is reportedly making billions from fake and scam advertisements that slip through its system every single day.
According to the leaked material, Meta’s own analysis found that around ten percent of its global ad revenue comes from fraudulent or misleading ads. That translates to roughly 16 billion US dollars a year.
The scale is staggering. The documents also revealed that around 15 billion “high-risk” ads are shown daily on Facebook, many of them flagged internally as potential scams. Yet Meta’s system apparently does not block most of these unless it is 95 percent sure that an ad is fake; such a ‘cautious’ approach means a lot of dubious content gets through.
Seems like a really big deal that 10% of Meta's revenue comes from outright scams. And that's their *internal* estimate, who knows what a fair outside report would say.
— Jeremiah Johnson 🌐 (@JeremiahDJohns) November 7, 2025
This should shift your beliefs on whether our current social media set up is net positive for humanity. pic.twitter.com/O1R3dkr1Zp
Surprise: Meta insists it is taking the problem seriously. The company says the figures from the leak exaggerate the issue and that it removed more than 134 million scam ads this year alone. In a statement, Meta spokesman Andy Stone said the documents seen by Reuters “present a selective view that distorts Meta’s approach to fraud and scams.”
“The assessment was done to validate our planned integrity investments – including in combatting frauds and scams – which we did,” Stone added. He added: “We aggressively fight fraud and scams because people on our platforms don’t want this content, legitimate advertisers don’t want it and we don’t want it either.”
“Over the past 18 months, we have reduced user reports of scam ads globally by 58 percent and, so far in 2025, we’ve removed more than 134 million pieces of scam ad content,” Stone claimed.
Whatever Stone may claim, those numbers look far less impressive when compared with the billions of ads still circulating. Even if Meta catches a fraction of the total, it continues to profit from those that slip through the cracks.
Meta is now running pro-data center ads featuring small towns.
— More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) November 7, 2025
The ads tout job creation, but a data center may only create 50 long-term jobs.
Residents near Meta data centers have complained about nonstop noise, pollution, wells running dry and rapidly rising electric bills. pic.twitter.com/Cw2Dt7md8v
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The victims are often regular users who lose money or personal information, all while Meta earns a cut from the same ads that exploit them. It is a system where the financial incentives and the ethical responsibilities are clearly at odds, and Meta has chosen its side.
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