The Guardian and Investigate Europe have conducted an investigation into five artificial intelligence chatbots created by Microsoft, Google, Meta, OpenAI, and X, which...
Meta accused of allowing gambling scam ads on FB and IG
The Consumer Federation of America (CFA) has filed a lawsuit against Meta, accusing the company of mishandling gambling scam advertisements on Facebook and Instagram and profiting from them.
The class-action lawsuit was filed in Washington DC on April 21, 2026, by Tycko and Zavareei LLP and Tech Justice Law, stating that despite publicly claiming to fight against scam ads, Meta’s internal documents reported by Reuters show that it has been making billions off them.
Sarah Kay Wiley, attorney and managing director at Tech Justice Law, commented:
“Meta has, as a matter of company policy, deliberately profited from rampant, inexcusable harm to users on its platforms. Meta told its users it was fighting fraud. Internally, it was charging scammers a premium for access to those same users. That is not a failure of enforcement; that is a business model built on predatory deception.”
Reuters’ documents reveal that in 2024, around $16 billion of Meta’s revenue came from ads of scams or banned products, while 2025 reports show that Meta’s platforms were connected to a third of all successful nationwide scams.
Meta’s spokesperson, Chris Sgro, responded to the accusations:
“These allegations misrepresent the reality of our work, and we will fight them. We aggressively combat scams across our platforms to protect people and businesses. Last year alone, we removed over 159 million scam ads, 92 per cent of which we took down before anyone reported them, and took down 10.9 million accounts on Facebook and Instagram associated with criminal scam centers.”
The lawsuit comes just weeks after Meta revealed that it’s launching new tools and working with law enforcement to target scams on Facebook and Instagram.
Meutya Hafid, Indonesia’s communications and digital affairs minister, conducted a surprise inspection in Meta’s Jakarta office on March 4, 2026, after concerns that the...
