‘Epidemic of Scams’ Flooding Instagram and Facebook Affecting Many Different Industries, Says Meta: Report

Meta executives are reportedly acknowledging a serious new problem with scams affecting its social media platforms.

A spokesperson for Meta, the parent company of social media behemoths Instagram and Facebook, tells the Wall Street Journal that the corporate giant is dealing with “an epidemic of scams” that has been growing exponentially in recent years, both in scale and sophistication.

“As this scam activity has become more persistent and sophisticated, so have our efforts.” 

The spokesperson reveals that Meta is experimenting with facial-recognition technology while also forming partnerships with banks and tech firms since the scams are affecting so many industries and “different parts of society.”

Citing people familiar with the matter, WSJ also reports that JPMorgan Chase has raised concerns with Meta about its policing – or lack thereof – of scams.

Meta accounted for nearly half of all reported scams on Zelle for JPMorgan Chase customers between the summers of 2023 and 2024, according to a WSJ source. JPMorgan also recently began blocking certain Zelle payments and warning users about transactions originating from social media platforms like Meta.

The person said that the number of scams linked to Meta has shown improvement in recent months.

However, documents seen by WSJ reportedly show that Meta has recently deprioritized enforcing scams, avoiding takedowns of erroneous advertisements because of supposed safety concerns, while also cutting costs and moving resources to other departments.

WSJ interviewed Edgar Guzman, the owner of a home improvement supplies and garden equipment company in Atlanta, who said scams are relentlessly targeting his customers, prompting them to make payments for products that never arrive.

Says Guzman,

“What sucks is we have to break it to people that they’ve been scammed – we don’t even do online sales… We keep reporting pages to Meta, but nothing ever happens.”

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