A new report from the Tech Transparency Project identified 63 scam advertisers that spent $49 million on more than 150,000 fraudulent Instagram and Facebook ads promoting fake stimulus checks, government benefits, and healthcare payments in the last year.
Many of the ads are targeted specifically to older Americans, and use fake videos of important political figures or celebrities created with artificial intelligence tools to direct victims to fraudulent, malicious websites. One ad, published by the Relief Eligibility Center, targeted men and women over the age of 65 in more than 20 states and featured a fake video of President Donald Trump urging seniors to visit a website to get their “FREE $5,000 check from Trump.”
Advertisers that want to publish ads featuring political figures on Facebook or Instagram in the United States are required to undergo an identity verification and authorization process. However, fraudsters have found ways to evade detection for longer periods using artificial intelligence and other tools.
Meta, the corporation which owns Facebook and Instagram, disabled 35 of the 63 fraudulent ad accounts, but only after they were able to publish dozens and sometimes even hundreds of ads that reached tens of thousands of potential victims. Six of the ad accounts spent over $1 million before they were finally deactivated.
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