Slate News What Next: TBD | How Meta Profits Off Fraud
Nov 16, 2025
Tech reporter Jeff Horwitz from Reuters dives into the troubling world of scam advertising on Meta's platforms. He uncovers how 10% of Meta's revenue is sourced from these scams, including notorious fake giveaways. Horwitz reveals Meta's projected $16 billion revenue from scam ads in 2024, highlighting the company's challenging balance between enforcement and profit. With Meta complicit in a third of U.S. scams, he discusses regulatory pressures and the questionable thresholds for banning advertisers, painting a striking picture of the platform's moral landscape.
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Scale Of Scam Revenue
- Meta internally estimated that scammy and banned ads could account for about 10% of its revenue, roughly $7–$16 billion annually.
- That scale means scamming is a profitable business that Meta's systems effectively monetize.
Clicking Scams Flags You For More
- Jeff Horwitz describes clicking on Elon-themed scam ads that then cause Meta to serve more fraudulent ads to you.
- The system learns who clicks scams and targets them with further scammy ads.
User Reports Largely Ignored
- Meta only correctly adjudicated 4% of valid user reports of scams in a 2023 review, discarding 96% of accurate reports.
- Weak enforcement of user reports allowed scam activity to grow on the platforms.