INTERNAL DOCS SHOW 2024 SCAM ADS PULLED IN $16 BILLION
Recent internal documents reported by Reuters reveal that Meta projected it would earn about 10% of its 2024 revenue — roughly $16 billion — from ads promoting scams, illegal goods, fraudulent investment schemes, and banned products.
The same cache of documents shows Meta’s platforms served an estimated 15 billion “higher-risk” scam ads every single day in late 2024 — ads that internal systems flagged as likely fraudulent but still allowed to run.
That was not a rounding error. It was large-scale monetization of fraud built directly into the ad business.
SCAMS, FRAUDS, AND FAKE PRODUCTS — FLOODGATES LEFT OPEN
The leaked material lists a wide range of scams: fraudulent e-commerce stores, fake investment and crypto schemes, rip-off casinos, counterfeit medical products, and aggressive “get rich quick” pitches — the same categories regulators have warned about for years.
Internal risk dashboards reportedly flagged this as a major “revenue-integrity threat,” yet enforcement stayed weak. Meta’s systems identified suspicious advertisers, but instead of cutting them off, the company often just charged them more.
According to the documents, Meta relied on higher “penalty bids” and only banned advertisers once internal models were more than 95% certain they were fraudulent. Anything below that threshold kept spending — and kept running.
That meant many scam networks escaped bans entirely, turning red flags into nothing more than speed bumps on the way to more revenue.
REGULATORS AND SENATORS DEMAND ANSWERS — OR ACTION
The revelations have already triggered political blowback. In Washington, U.S. Senators have urged the Federal Trade Commission and Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate whether Meta knowingly profited from illegal activity, citing the Reuters findings in a formal letter described in a follow-up report.
Critics say the standard is simple: if banks cannot profit from fraud without intervention, a global social-media giant should not be allowed to treat it as just another revenue line.
Consumer advocates add that behind every “high-risk” ad is a real victim — with everyday users losing savings, retirement funds, and emergency reserves to scams that were paid for and distributed through Meta’s systems.
META RESPONDS — BUT THE DEFENSE FALLS SHORT
Meta spokesman Andy Stone acknowledged the internal estimates but argued that the “10%” figure was “rough and overly-inclusive,” saying that the internal model counted “many” legitimate ads alongside fraudulent ones.
Stone said Meta “aggressively fights fraud and scams,” pointing to an alleged 58% reduction in user reports of scam ads over the last 18 months and the removal of more than 134 million pieces of scam-ad content so far in 2025 — numbers Meta has also highlighted in public statements.
The leaked documents, however, show a company that repeatedly weighed potential revenue loss against enforcement — and chose to keep large portions of the money flowing.
A TECH GIANT PROFITING FROM CRIME — AT WHAT COST?
When a small business or bank is caught profiting from scams, regulators freeze accounts, claw back funds, and sometimes file criminal charges.
With Meta, the internal documents suggest something different: fraud was not an accident at the edges of the system, it was baked into the revenue engine itself. Scam networks bought ads, paid premium penalty rates, and were allowed to keep targeting users long after internal systems flagged them as dangerous.
Unless regulators demand a full accounting — and consider forcing Meta to return revenue tied to fraudulent advertising — this scandal may stand as one of the defining corporate stories of the decade: a tech giant deliberately profiting from illicit activity.
