Meta projected 10% of 2024 revenue from scam ads

Meta internally projected in late 2024 that about 10% of its annual revenue—roughly $16 billion—would come from advertising tied to scams and other prohibited goods, according to company documents spanning 2021–2025.

One December 2024 briefing estimated users see about 15 billion “higher-risk” scam ads daily, generating roughly $7 billion in annualised revenue. Separate research has put the number of “organic” (non-paid) scam attempts at 22 billion a day across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

The files indicate Meta’s systems often flag suspicious marketers but ban them only when automated models are ≥95% confident of fraud. Below that threshold, the company has used “penalty bids”—charging higher ad prices to suspected bad actors—to deter them while keeping enforcement costs down.

Internally, Meta assessed that its platforms were involved in approximately one-third of successful scams in the U.S. and that it is “easier to advertise scams” on its services than on some of its rivals. 

Regulators are scrutinising the issue: the U.S. SEC is probing financial-scam ads, and a UK regulator found Meta products were implicated in 54% of payment-related scam losses in 2023.

The documents also outline revenue “guardrails”: in early 2025, enforcement teams were told not to take actions expected to cost more than 0.15% of company revenue in the half-year, even as Meta braced for up to $1 billion in potential fines—figures the company has since described as projections rather than hard limits.

Meta says the internal 10.1% estimate was “rough and overly inclusive,” that it has expanded anti-scam staffing, and that user reports of scam ads fell 58% over the past 18 months, with more than 134 million pieces of scam-ad content removed so far in 2025. The company maintains it “aggressively” combats fraud because users and legitimate advertisers do not want such content.

Strategy papers set targets to shrink revenue tied to scams, illegal gambling and prohibited goods from about 10.1% (2024) to 7.3% (end-2025), 6.0% (2026) and 5.8% (2027), focusing near-term action in markets facing regulatory pressure.

Case studies in the cache describe rampant impersonation schemes, crypto cons and Marketplace fraud, alongside earlier under-investment in automated detection and resource constraints during layoffs. Even so, some large ad accounts amassed hundreds of strikes before being removed, while four dismantled campaigns were reportedly worth $67 million per month in ad spend.

Critics argue that accepting revenue from suspected scammers is untenable. Meta counters that it will continue tightening enforcement—even at the expense of short-term revenue—to reduce exposure to scams across its platforms.