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We work aggressively to find and disrupt scams \u2013 on and off our platforms. Recently, we worked closely with law enforcement in the UK and Nigeria to help <\/span>take down a scam center<\/span><\/a>, which resulted in seven arrests. And today, we filed lawsuits against four scam advertisers who impersonated well-known celebrities and brands to deceive and defraud people.<\/span><\/p>\n We\u2019ve taken technical enforcement actions against these scammers, which includes suspending their methods of payment, disabling related accounts on our platforms, blocking the domain names for websites they used for their scams, and sharing this information with our industry partners so they can block them, too.<\/span> Scammers often misuse the images of public figures, such as celebrities and content creators, to trick people into engaging with ads that lead to scam websites. These sites commonly ask people to share their personal information or send money.<\/span><\/p>\n Of course, celebrities are featured in many legitimate ads. But because scam ads are designed to look real, they\u2019re not always easy to detect.<\/span> This scheme, referred to as \u2018celeb bait,\u2019 undermines people\u2019s trust and violates our policies.<\/span><\/p>\n To fight celeb-bait scams, we developed <\/span>protections for celebrities<\/span><\/a> whose images are repeatedly used in these schemes. This program currently protects the images of more than 500,000 celebrities and public figures around the world.<\/span><\/p>\n Today, we filed lawsuits against the following deceptive advertisers for using this tactic:<\/span><\/p>\n We continue to fight <\/span>celeb-bait scams<\/span><\/a> like these, and we build product features to protect individual accounts and <\/span>legitimate businesses<\/span><\/a> against fraud.<\/span><\/p>\n We\u2019re improving our methods for detecting <\/span>cloaking, a malicious technique that impairs ad review systems by concealing the true nature of a website linked to an ad. In instances like this, a webpage connected to a seemingly legitimate ad displays one version of its content to our ad review system, but shows different content to real users. We block and remove these ads when we detect them, and we share them with our partners so they can take action on their platforms as well.<\/span><\/p>\n Our latest tools use AI to help us analyze cloaking and better detect ads that redirect to harmful websites. These tools also help us more quickly reject these ads, and we can more swiftly take action when users report suspected malicious ads.<\/span><\/p>\n Today, we filed a lawsuit against Vietnam-based L\u00fd V\u0103n L\u00e2m who used cloaking to circumvent our ad review process. This deceptive advertiser also used scam ads to offer deeply discounted items from well-known brands, such as Longchamp, in exchange for completing a survey. People who engaged with these ads were redirected to websites where they were asked to provide credit card information to purchase items they ultimately never received. Their credit cards also incurred unauthorized, recurring fees: a practice known as subscription fraud.<\/span><\/p>\n Our teams worked closely with Longchamp to investigate and stop this scam on our platforms<\/span> \u201cLongchamp has a zero tolerance policy and invests a fair amount of resources in combating illicit activities \u2014 such as counterfeiting or fraud using our brand \u2014 offline and online. For this fight to be efficient, we need to rely on active cooperation between all stakeholders, including intermediaries. We are happy that Meta takes action and demonstrates such cooperation.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n \u2013 Maison Longchamp<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n We recently issued cease and desist letters to eight former<\/span> Meta Business Partners<\/span><\/a> who offered abusive services, including phony \u201cun-ban\u201d or account restoration services and renting access to trusted accounts that helped clients evade our enforcement systems. We will consider taking additional legal action, including litigation, if they don\u2019t comply.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n To help combat this kind of abuse in the future and to protect the integrity of our platforms, we\u2019re reviewing our Business Partner ecosystem and are actively working on enhancing our vetting methods for approving these business partnerships.<\/span> We continue to improve our <\/span>detection and enforcement methods<\/span><\/a> and have developed a multi-layered approach to combating fraud, which includes using automated, technical defenses to help protect people on our apps; <\/span>disrupting criminal scam networks<\/span><\/a>; and <\/span>strengthening cross-industry partnerships<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n For more insights and practical tips to help recognize common scams online, please visit our <\/span>Scam Prevention Hub<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>
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<\/span>Today\u2019s lawsuits and our ongoing efforts to combat scams send a clear message: those who seek to exploit others on our platforms will be held accountable.<\/span>
<\/span><\/p>\nFighting Celeb-Bait Scams in Brazil and China
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Exposing Subscription Fraud and Cloaking<\/h2>\n
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Combating Abusive Practices<\/h2>\n
<\/span><\/p>\nOur Ongoing Approach to Stopping Fraud<\/h2>\n
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