Meta projected $16 billion in scam ad revenue. Now the lawsuits are piling up.

In short: Meta faces a convergence of lawsuits across the US, Australia, and the UK alleging the company knowingly profited from scam ads on Facebook and Instagram, with its own internal documents projecting that 10% of 2024 revenue, roughly $16 billion, came from fraudulent advertising. The cases span a $500 million pump-and-dump scheme, deepfake celebrity endorsements, financial professional impersonation, and cryptocurrency fraud, while leaked internal assessments show Meta calculated that scam revenue would exceed the cost of any regulatory settlement.

Meta is facing a convergence of lawsuits, class actions, and regulatory investigations over scam advertisements on Facebook and Instagram that, according to the company’s own internal projections, generated roughly $16 billion in revenue in 2024, approximately 10% of Meta’s total advertising income. The legal actions span the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom, and collectively allege that Meta knowingly profited from fraudulent ads including AI-generated deepfake celebrity ...