California county sues Meta over scam ads

"California's Santa Clara County has sued Meta Platforms, alleging it has profited from Facebook and Instagram ads promoting scams in violation of California's false advertising and unfair business practices laws."

"Citing leaked internal documents first reported by Reuters last year, the complaint alleges that the company earned as much as $7 billion in annual revenue from so-called "high-risk" scam ads which show clear signs of being fraudulent. Rather than undertaking a broad crackdown on fraudulent advertisers, the county alleges, Meta largely tolerated the misconduct and even established "guardrails" to block scam reduction efforts if they cost the company too much money."

"In the suit, Santa Clara alleges that Meta materially contributed to an epidemic of fraud by allowing middlemen to sell accounts to place ads that were protected against enforcement, and targeting scam ads at users who had clicked on similarly bogus offerings in the past."

""This claim relies on Reuters reporting that distorts our motives and ignores the full range of actions we take to combat scams every day," said Meta spokesperson Andy Stone. "We aggressively fight scams on and off our platforms because they're not good for us or the people and businesses that rely on our services.""

Santa Clara County sued Meta Platforms in California state court, alleging profits from Facebook and Instagram advertisements that promote scams. The lawsuit seeks restitution, civil damages, and an order barring Meta from engaging in unfair business practices. The complaint alleges Meta tolerates fraudulent advertising globally and earned up to $7 billion annually from “high-risk” scam ads. The county claims Meta used “guardrails” that limited scam-reduction efforts when they would cost the company money. The suit also alleges Meta materially contributed to fraud by allowing middlemen to sell accounts protected against enforcement and by targeting users who previously clicked similar bogus offers. Meta said it will defend itself and claims it aggressively fights scams.

Read at Miami Herald