Meta's Systematic Complicity in Global Fraud

Executive Summary

Internal Meta documents leaked to Reuters in November 2025 document that Meta Platforms Inc. (Facebook, Instagram) generated approximately $16 billion in revenue during 2024 from scam advertisements and banned goods—constituting 10.1% of the company's total annual revenue.

                    Key Finding: Meta's "Penalty Bid" system charges identified scammers premium fees rather than removing them. Historical safety spending was capped at 0.15% of revenue—100x less than scam revenue generated.
                

                    2025 Context: Meta's 2025 enforcement improvements (58% reduction in scam reports, 134M ads removed) suggest the capacity existed in 2024. This raises the critical question: Was historical underfunding a capacity constraint or a prioritization choice? The 5.8% target by 2027 still represents $900M+ in annual scam revenue.
                

The Penalty Bid System

Rather than banning identified high-risk advertisers, Meta's system applies what insiders call "Penalty Bids"—algorithmic surcharges that effectively tax scammers for continued access to victims.

How It Works

70-95% fraud probability: Advertiser charged premium rates, remains active
95%+ fraud probability: Advertiser banned
Result: Meta earns ~50% more profit from suspected scammers than legitimate advertisers

                    The Mall Analogy: "If a shopping mall landlord discovered 10% of their tenants were running scams, then charged those scammers higher rent instead of evicting them, we'd call that racketeering. Now consider it at scale, generating $16 billion annually."
                

Key Findings

$16 billion annual scam revenue (10.1% of 2024 total)
$7 billion specifically from "higher risk" scam ads
15 billion scam ads shown to users daily
96% of valid user scam reports rejected
0.15% of revenue allocated to safety measures
5.8% target by 2027 still = $900M+ annual scam revenue

Comparative Context

Google's 2024 enforcement removed 5.1B ads with 39.2M accounts suspended (3x increase YoY). Meta's internal documents admit: "It is easier to advertise scams on Meta platforms than Google."

Ecosystem-Level Harm

The $16B figure represents only Meta's internal categorization of "scam ads and banned goods." The broader ecosystem—including spam farms, clickbait networks, and political manipulation—likely generates 15-30% or more of total ad revenue while imposing $250-850 billion in externalized societal costs.

Documented Victim Impact

Australia: $2.03B total scam losses in 2024; Meta-originated: 58%
UK: 54% of payments-related scam losses occur on Meta platforms
US: Meta involved in 1/3 of successful scams

📰 Press Inquiries

Email: press@astrasafety.org

This analysis has been circulated to major global outlets including Reuters, the Financial Times, The Guardian, and Mashable for independent review.