Report: Meta Profited Billions From China-Linked Scam Ads

A new examination of internal company records has raised fresh questions about how much Meta benefited financially from fraudulent advertising, particularly from China-based clients pushing illegal content onto its platforms.

According to Mediaite, internal Meta documents show more than $3 billion of the company’s advertising revenue tied to Chinese businesses came from scams.

The records indicate that roughly 19% of advertising money from Chinese companies was connected to illegal gambling, pornography, and other content explicitly banned under Meta’s own rules.

While Facebook and Instagram are prohibited for public use inside China, the Chinese government allows companies to advertise to international audiences on the platforms. Those ads have become a significant revenue stream for Meta, accounting for more than 10% of the company’s overall income, or roughly $18 billion.

Meta’s internal reviews also found that more than a quarter of all scam-related advertisements on its platforms originated from China. In response to mounting concerns, employees pushed leadership to take action, leading the company to form a specialized anti-fraud team in 2024.

Internal documents show staff urged “significant investment to reduce growing harm” from scams. The team’s early efforts appeared to make an impact, reducing fraudulent ads by about 10% during the second half of the year.

That progress was short-lived.

The documents show the anti-fraud work was abruptly halted when the team was “asked to pause” its efforts “as a result of an Integrity Strategy pivot and follow-up from Zuck,” referring to Meta CEO 👤Mark Zuckerberg.

Reuters reported that the records do not explain what the “pivot” entailed. Shortly after Zuckerberg’s involvement, the anti-fraud team was disbanded entirely, and Meta lifted a freeze that had limited access for new Chinese ad agencies.

By mid-2025, internal figures showed that about 16% of Chinese-funded ad revenue was still linked to scams.

In a statement, a Meta spokesperson acknowledged the scale of the problem while defending the company’s response.

“Scams are spiking across the internet, driven by persistent criminals and sophisticated, organized crime syndicates constantly evolving their schemes to evade detection,” the spokesperson said. “We are focused on rooting them out by using advanced technical measures and new tools, disrupting criminal scam networks, working with industry partners and law enforcement, and raising awareness on our platforms about scam activity. And when we determine that bad actors have violated our rules prohibiting fraud and scams, we take action.”

The broader impact of online fraud continues to grow. The FBI’s Annual Internet Crime Report showed internet-related financial losses jumped more than 30% in 2024, resulting in more than $16 billion stolen from victims.

Meta itself earns an estimated $7 billion annually from ads it categorizes as “high risk.” About 10% of the company’s $16 billion in total revenue in 2024 came from content classified as banned.

Reuters first reported on the issue last month, prompting bipartisan concern in Washington. Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., sent a letter urging federal regulators to act.

They asked the Federal Trade Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission to “investigate and, if appropriate, bring enforcement actions against Meta for its facilitation of and profiting from criminal investment scams, fake government benefits schemes, deepfake pornography, and other fraudulent activities.”