Meta slammed over proliferation of FB scammers

Cybersecurity advocacy group Scam Watch Pilipinas on Wednesday accused social media giant Meta of allegedly failing to adequately address the widespread abuse of its Facebook platform by scammers targeting Filipino users.

Scam Watch Pilipinas co-founder Jocel de Guzman said in a statement that Meta’s inability to detect and remove fake accounts is a primary driver behind the surge in online fraud and disinformation.

De Guzman asserted that fake accounts are used to disseminate sponsored scam advertisements, impersonate public figures, news organizations, and brands, and spread false information on a large scale.

He described Meta’s platforms —particularly Facebook — as a “breeding ground” for digital exploitation due to what he called lax enforcement and flawed content moderation systems.

“Fake accounts are the root cause of online scams and fake news on Facebook, and Meta has allowed them to thrive,” De Guzman said.

He highlighted that scammers exploit Facebook’s advertising system to run paid posts that appear legitimate, often mimicking reputable entities to promote fake investment schemes, fraudulent giveaways, or phishing websites designed to steal personal or financial data.

Scam Watch Pilipinas also raised concerns about Meta’s ad verification process, which it characterized as largely automated and easily circumvented, allowing harmful ads to remain active for extended periods.

De Guzman pointed out that cloned Facebook pages imitating legitimate news outlets, businesses, journalists, influencers, or celebrities are commonly used in scams and to spread fake news, yet Meta struggles to effectively detect and remove them.

He warned that many scam posts contain links to phishing websites that Facebook’s filtering system often fails to identify, leading users to fraudulent pages.

Facebook’s algorithm also came under scrutiny, with De Guzman saying that it tends to amplify sensational or emotionally charged content, a pattern exploited by scammers to increase the reach of fake news, miracle cures, and cryptocurrency frauds, often propagated by networks of fake accounts.

De Guzman also criticized Meta’s response to user reports of deepfake videos, scam posts, or suspicious pages, noting that templated responses claiming no violation of community standards lack accountability and embolden scammers while frustrating users.