On Tuesday, the Consumer Federation of America filed a lawsuit against Meta, alleging that the social networking giant fails to adequately crack down on fraudulent advertising on its platforms. While many scams involve direct outreach by scammers, CFA’s focus is on ads that profit from and proliferate despite public promises to the contrary.

In its complaint, CFA points out several ads in Meta’s library that appear suspiciously like known scams, including those targeting people by their birth year with promises of $1,400 checks, as well as free government iPhones. The Federation suggests anyone can find more dubious ads just by searching with keywords like “free phone” and “stimulus check.”

Meta has faced particular scrutiny due to its widespread use in America. In 2025, Reuters reported that Meta platforms were involved in a third of all US scams, earning the company $16 billion from such ads in 2024 – an amount roughly equal to Americans’ losses from internet crimes that year.

Nonprofits like CFA argue for immediate action and reforms. As Ben Winters, CFA’s director of AI and data privacy, says, the gap between promise and reality is too wide for consumers, urging for quicker relief.