A new bill to combat fraudulent ads on social media platforms was introduced in the United States Senate soon after the Alliance’s “Stop the Scam” webinar last month.
Sen. Ruben Gallego (AZ) and Sen. Bernie Moreno (OH) introduced the Safeguarding Consumers from Advertising Misconduct Act (SCAM Act), which would strengthen regulations to combat social media scams and make it easier to hold online platforms accountable when they fail to take action against scam advertisers.
According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center Report, older Americans lost $4.8 billion to internet scams in 2024 – a 43 percent increase from the previous year. Social media was the leading contact method for fraud.
“Scammers are using social media to swindle Americans out of their hard-earned savings, and right now, those platforms face almost no consequences for letting it happen,” said Senator Gallego. “If a company is making money from running ads on their site, it has a responsibility to make sure those ads aren’t fraudulent. This bipartisan bill will hold social media companies accountable and protect consumers’ money online.”
The SCAM Act requires social media corporations and other companies that provide ads for online services to ensure advertisers on their platform are not fraudulent. It would also empower the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general to take enforcement and civil actions against corporations that fail to comply.
The post Senators Introduce Social Media Scams Legislation appeared first on Retired Americans.