U.S. lawmakers are demanding an aggressive federal investigation into META after explosive reports allege the company profited massively from scam ads, generating as much as $16 billion in revenue from fraudulent advertising on Facebook and Instagram.

According to newly surfaced internal documents reviewed by Reuters, META’s platform may be implicated in “about a third of all U.S. scams” and connected to more than $50 billion in consumer losses last year.

Senators Push for Major Regulatory Action

In a letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Senators Josh Hawley and Richard Blumenthal urged regulators to “immediately open investigations and … pursue vigorous enforcement action” against META.

 They argue that if the reporting is accurate, META should be required to disgorge profits, pay penalties, and halt the running of fraudulent advertisements.

Read more:

1. Exclusive: US senators call for probe of scam ads on Facebook and Instagram | Reuters
2. Meta is earning a fortune on a deluge of fraudulent ads, documents show | Reuters
3. Meta earns billions from ads for scams, report claims | The Independent
4. HotHardware report: https://hothardware.com/news/meta-faces-scrutiny-over-billions-in-scam-ad-revenue
   

   Internal Records Suggest Scams Ads Were Allowed to Run

   
   According to one internal Meta document, the company made $3.5 billion in just six months from what it classified as “higher-risk” scam ads.

The scale of the alleged fraud is raising alarms across Washington, with lawmakers questioning whether META is doing enough to control its sprawling ad ecosystem.

The documents reportedly imply that META permitted many fraud-related ads to continue running because key rules “did not apply to many ads … [that staff] believed violated the spirit of its rules against scam advertising.”

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Meta Pushes Back, Calling Claims ‘Exaggerated and Wrong’

Senators argue that META’s platforms are allegedly implicated in a staggering share of national fraud, highlighting that “about a third of all U.S. scams” may originate from Facebook and Instagram.

META spokesman Andy Stone dismissed the allegations as “exaggerated and wrong,” insisting the company “aggressively fights fraud and scams because people on our platforms don’t want this content.”

But Hawley and Blumenthal remain skeptical. They stated that Meta’s Ad Library still contains “clearly identifiable advertisements for illicit gambling, payment scams, crypto scams, AI deepfake sex services, and fake offers of federal benefits.”

Among the startling examples cited was a fake advertisement impersonating President Donald Trump, falsely claiming he was distributing $1,000 to food assistance recipients.

High-Stakes Implications for Tech Regulation

This revelation comes despite the company’s claims that reports of scam ads have declined by 58% over the past 18 months—figures lawmakers say may not reflect the full extent of the problem.

The senators warn that the alleged link between META’s revenue and scam ads could reshape the regulatory landscape. With much of META’s business reportedly tied to high-risk advertising, any FTC or SEC investigation could fundamentally alter how the company—and the tech sector at large—handles digital advertising and consumer safety.