"Santa Clara County is suing Meta, alleging the company turned Facebook and Instagram into lucrative pipelines for scam advertising aimed at vulnerable users. In a new California lawsuit, county officials argue Meta allowed fraudulent ads to saturate feeds worldwide - not as an oversight, but as part of a system that protected advertising revenue even when users were being defrauded."
"According to the complaint, Meta not only failed to stop deceptive advertisers, but it also allegedly weakened its own anti-fraud protections, as San José Spotlight reported. The lawsuit says some scammers remained active even after being flagged more than 500 times. It also claims Meta relied on internal "revenue guardrails" that discouraged employees from removing scam ads if doing so would significantly reduce profits."
"At a news conference, County Counsel Tony LoPresti said "Meta is on the take," accusing the company of misleading users and violating the law for years. According to San José Spotlight, many of the lawsuit's claims draw on a 2025 Reuters investigation that said Meta was at one point linked to one-third of all successful internet scams in the United States."
"Meta has vowed to fight the lawsuit. A company spokesperson told San José Spotlight that the claim relies on Reuters reporting that "distorts our motives" and ignores the full range of actions Meta takes every day to combat scams. Meta said that it took down more than 159 million scam ads last year and added new tools and law enforcement partnerships aimed at disrupting fraudsters."
Santa Clara County filed a California lawsuit against Meta, alleging Facebook and Instagram were used as channels for scam advertising targeting vulnerable users. County officials claim Meta knowingly allowed billions of fraudulent ads to run and generated an estimated $7 billion per year from them. The complaint alleges Meta failed to stop deceptive advertisers and weakened its anti-fraud protections. It states some scammers continued operating even after being flagged more than 500 times. The lawsuit also alleges Meta used internal “revenue guardrails” that discouraged employees from removing scam ads when removal would reduce profits. Meta denies wrongdoing, saying it removed more than 159 million scam ads last year and expanded tools and law enforcement partnerships to disrupt fraudsters.
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