A report by Reuters on social media giant Meta says the Facebook parent makes as much as 10% of total revenue from online scam advertising.
The report, published on 6 November, was based on internal Meta documents viewed by Reuters. It says the company exposed billions of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp users to bogus investment schemes, illegal online casinos and purveyors of outlawed medical products. It estimates that revenue from scam promotions could total from $7 billion to $16 billion.
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), which previously criticised Meta for failing to remove illegal gambling ads, called the report “very worrying”. Commissioner Derek Fernandez said the matter is “disturbing” and of “grave concern”.
In a statement, Meta spokesman Andy Stone said Reuters took “a selective view that distorts Meta’s approach to fraud and scams”.
Malaysia: Meta failing in cybercrime fight
Starting in January, Malaysia required all social media and messenging services with at least eight million registered users to have a licence to operate in the country. Penalties for non-compliance include fines of $118,500 and up to five years in jail.
But Meta insists it polices its own platforms, “regardless of the licensing regime”. In comments reported by the South China Morning Post, Meta Director of Public Policy Rafael Frankel said, “We don’t need any licence to continue that work.”
Meanwhile, the MCMC claims Malaysians lost almost $60 million from 2023 through August 2025 to e-commerce scams promoted on Meta platforms, primarily Facebook. To date this year, the government has sent more than 168,000 requests to remove illegal Facebook content, particularly online gaming ads and gambling-related posts.
“These figures show Meta has not fully cooperated in combatting cybercrime, leaving room for offences to continue,” said Malaysian Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil.
According to the Reuters investigation, Meta does not act to ban advertisers until it is at least 95% certain they are pushing illicit products or services. If it suspects the advertiser is a scammer, it simply charges more for the ads.
At the same time, Meta analyses consumer data to deliver ads based on user preferences. In other words, viewers who click on scam ads are likely to get more of the same.
Fernandez has proposed a “public safety and online-harm rating system” for digital platforms that will grade them for transparency and effectiveness.
Is more regulation in order?
The world’s most popular social network has consistently failed to block the use of credit cards used to pay for illegal ads, Fahmi added. “If a gambling ad is paid for using a credit card and Facebook knows this content is illegal in Malaysia, they should block the account. But Facebook has refused to do so.”
Fraud consultant Sandeep Abraham, a former Meta safety investigator, agrees. “If regulators wouldn’t tolerate banks profiting from fraud, they shouldn’t tolerate it in tech,” he told Reuters.
Malaysia ministers who criticised Meta over illegal iGaming promotions are concerned that the social media giant could be reaping up to 10% of revenue from suspected scam ads.