Meta Allows Repeat Scam Ads Targeting Seniors on Facebook and Instagram

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is not stopping some con artists from repeatedly purchasing ads that target seniors with scams, according to a report released Tuesday by the Center for Countering Digital Hate. The advocacy and research organization provided an advance copy of the report to NBC News.

It found that ads from 30 of the most active scam accounts generated an estimated 215 million ad impressions on Facebook over the past year. Seventy-three percent of those impressions came from users over 65. Many of the ads used fake images or videos of celebrities including President Donald Trump, former President Joe Biden, Oprah Winfrey, Steve Harvey, Brad Pitt and Bart Simpson.

The ads directed viewers to click links or call numbers with the promise of free money or benefits through Medicare. One ad highlighted in the report said, “Don’t be an idiot. Claim it now,” while promoting $3,600 in free groceries, rent and gas through Medicare.

After users clicked through, their personal data was collected or they were steered into worse Medicare programs, the report said.

The Center for Countering Digital Hate said Meta should catch more scam ads that violate its terms of service. “Meta is more than an unwitting participant. The company allows ads to reappear on its platform after being removed, even when they are nearly identical,” Imran Ahmed, the center’s CEO, said in a statement.

In one example, 86 different ads used an identical video. Meta rejected 48 versions but allowed 38 to run, according to the researchers. An account named Golden Help For All had 1,335 policy violations but was still permitted to run ads. Meta said Monday it was looking at the report’s findings.

“Scammers are determined criminals who use increasingly sophisticated tactics to defraud people and evade detection on our platforms and across the internet,” Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said in a statement. Stone added that the company removed over 159 million scam ads last year, with 92 percent taken down before anyone reported them.

The company also launched new tools to protect users and partnered with law enforcement to disrupt the criminals.

Meta faces multiple class action complaints over scam ads. In a case pending in federal court in Oakland, California, three Facebook users allege that the company profits from online swindles. Meta has responded in the suit that Facebook is provided “as is” with no guarantees that it will always be safe, secure or error-free.

The Consumer Federation of America filed a class action complaint against Meta last month. On Monday, California’s Santa Clara County filed a lawsuit making similar claims against Meta, Reuters reported. The Center for Countering Digital Hate estimated that Medicare-related scammers spent about $12.4 million on ads in the past year, and $14.3 million overall.

The figures are underestimates because they are based only on ads listed in Meta’s public ad library, which covers a limited portion of total advertising. Meta internally projected in 2024 that it would earn about 10 percent of its annual revenue from ads for scams and banned goods, according to a Reuters report last year citing internal documents.

Meta said at the time that the figure was rough and overly inclusive, and Stone said Monday that the true number is much lower.

The spread of scams on Facebook burdens not only seniors but also their families. Marissa Garcia, who lives with her 79-year-old grandmother in Las Vegas, said she has had to intervene after her grandmother believed ads on the platform. In one instance her grandmother provided her Medicare beneficiary number and other personal details over the phone.

“It’s frankly disgusting that they’re allowing this to keep happening,” Garcia said. ’” In December, an ad using a fake video of President Donald Trump promoting free grocery allowance cards generated 200,000 to 250,000 impressions before Meta removed it.

The ad, which ran for about 21 hours, was viewed by people with 63 percent age 65 and older, primarily in Texas, Florida and North Carolina. The advertiser spent between $10,000 and $15,000.