Report Examines Medicare Scam Ads on Meta Platforms

A new report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate examined Medicare-related advertising on Meta platforms. Researchers reviewed more than 90,000 ads from Meta's Ad Library and identified the top 30 Medicare advertisers by spending. Those advertisers ran 42,984 ads that the group classified as deceptive.

The report stated that the ads received 215 million impressions from March 12, 2025, through March 11, 2026. This figure is nearly six times the combined total from all previous years on record. 4 million collected during the one-year period studied.

The Center defined Medicare scams as ads that promoted supposed extra benefits while using deceptive tactics. These included misleading benefit claims, false government-style branding, fake endorsements from public figures, and fabricated enrollment deadlines.

The most targeted states were Texas, Florida, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. The report noted that these states have large Medicare-eligible populations. In some cases, users who clicked were asked for personal information or encouraged to change Medicare plans.

A Meta spokesperson said scammers use increasingly sophisticated tactics to evade detection. The company stated it removed more than 159 million scam ads last year and took down 92 percent of them before anyone reported them. Meta also pointed to new tools to combat investment and celebrity-bait scams and to a recent Department of Justice credit for assisting in a criminal takedown.

The Center said some ads that appeared to violate Meta's policies were approved. In one example, researchers found 86 ads with identical content; Meta rejected 48 while allowing 38 to run. 7 million in revenue for Meta. Center for Countering Digital Hate CEO Imran Ahmed said the report shows Meta is providing scammers access to a powerful advertising system.

He stated that Section 230 was meant to protect companies that act responsibly and argued platforms should not rely on that protection when they profit from allegedly deceptive ads.