"Meta networks are a breeding ground for online scams, study shows", 07 February 2025

...The Internet and Social Network Studies Laboratory (NetLab), linked to the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), published Wednesday (Feb. 5) the results of a study about malicious ads on social networks managed by Meta, like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The work aimed to increase knowledge about misleading advertising, which bad actors have used to run scams on Brazilian citizens. The results indicate that Meta’s platforms are seen by scammers as fertile ground for the practice.

The study consisted of intensive monitoring from January 10 to 21 of this year. The period coincides with the events following the publication of Normative Instruction 2.219/2024 by Brazil’s Federal Revenue Service. The text made it compulsory for credit card operators and payment institutions to submit certain information on the taxpayers’ transactions every six months. The measure...triggered a wave of fake news reports claiming that transactions made with instant Pix payments would be taxed. Under pressure from the spread of fake news, the federal government eventually decided to revoke the new rule on January 15.

According to the survey, the outbreak of false stories raised doubts among the population, and fraudsters took advantage of the moment to carry out scams...In announcing the decision to revoke the ban, the government stated the move was aimed at curbing the circulation of disinformation, among other things. NetLab’s analysis shows that, as far as fraudulent ads were concerned, this objective was not achieved—on the contrary, on Meta’s platforms, this content grew by 35 percent after the pullback...

“The fact that these pages were allowed to run ads on behalf of the government highlights the weaknesses of Meta’s advertiser verification process,” the study notes...

The researchers believe that the reach of the scams has been maximized by the use of the marketing tools made available by Meta...They criticize the lack of transparency in the processing of personal data and see a lack of control and security against misleading advertising, which encourages digital crime on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp...

Contacted by Agência Brasil, Meta said that ads that aim to deceive, defraud, or exploit third parties are not allowed on its platforms. “We are always improving our technology to combat suspicious activity. We also recommend people to report any content they believe goes against Facebook’s Community Standards, Instagram’s Community Guidelines, and Meta’s Advertising Standards through the apps themselves,” the note adds...