Meta's Ad Systems Enable Billions in Scam Revenue While Deleting Regulator Searches
Meta's advertising systems enabled scam ads generating approximately $7 billion in annual revenue, while company staffers reportedly deleted fraudulent ads from regulatory searches to manage the appearance of compliance in Japan. Seven Japanese cabinet agencies jointly demanded the platform implement advertiser verification within six weeks, a measure Meta acknowledged it could execute but declined due to revenue concerns.
What happened
Japan's seven cabinet-level agencies jointly demanded on Thursday that Meta and other platforms verify advertiser identities, remove deepfake investment scam ads promptly, and improve advertising transparency. Reuters documents revealed that Meta staffers used a tactic to manage what they called the 'prevalence perception' of scam content by identifying keywords and celebrity names that Japanese regulators were searching in Meta's Ad Library, then deleting the ads that appeared.
Meta confirmed it could implement advertiser verification globally in under six weeks, tested it successfully in at least one market, but chose not to do so because the revenue cost was too high. Internal 2024 estimates cited by Reuters showed Meta earned approximately $7 billion annually from ads related to scam schemes.
Reported impact
In 2025, social media investment fraud in Japan reached 9,538 cases with victims losing ¥127.4 billion (approximately $804 million), a 46.3% increase over the previous year. The average loss per social media investment fraud case was ¥12.1 million (approximately $76,400), with most victims aged between their forties and sixties.
Combined losses from special fraud, romance scams, and social-media investment scams hit a record ¥324.11 billion (approximately $2.05 billion), up 62.8% from the previous year.
Governance controls
Reuters investigation revealed an internal cache of Meta documents spanning four years showing systematic tactics to manage regulator perception of scam content. The approach involved Meta staff identifying keywords used by Japanese regulators to search the Ad Library, then deleting the ads that appeared in those searches.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.