Slate Business What Next: TBD | How Meta Profits Off Fraud
Nov 16, 2025
Jeff Horwitz, a tech reporter for Reuters, sheds light on Meta's troubling connection to scam ads, revealing that up to 10% of its revenue—up to $16 billion—comes from this sector. He discusses how deceptive ads thrive on Meta's platforms, powered by AI and organized crime. Despite internal tracking, enforcement is weak, leading to rampant scam activities. Horwitz emphasizes that Meta prioritizes ad revenue over user safety, complicating regulatory responses and leaving victims with few options for redress.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Clicking Signals Users For More Scams
- Jeff Horwitz describes clicking scammy Elon ads that target people who engage with scams.
- He explains the system then serves more fraudulent ads to users who've clicked once.
Scale Of Scam Ad Revenue
- Meta estimated up to $16 billion (10% of 2024 revenue) came from scam or banned- goods ads.
- Jeff Horwitz obtained internal documents proving the scale and financial significance of scam ads.
Scams Became Industrialized
- Jeff recounts how scamming has industrialized with AI and organized crime syndicates.
- He cites AI-generated dialects and scam compounds forcing people to perpetrate fraud at scale.