Meta sues advertisers in Brazil and China over ‘celeb bait’ scams

Meta has sued the individuals and teams behind three rip-off operations that used pictures and deepfakes of celebrities to lure customers to rip-off web sites. In line with the corporate, the three entities had been primarily based in China and Brazil and focused individuals within the US, Japan and different nations. The adverts promoted fraudulent funding schemes and pretend well being merchandise.

Meta mentioned that it had filed lawsuits in opposition to a number of individuals in Brazil who promoted pretend or unapproved healthcare merchandise and on-line programs selling them. The corporate additionally sued a China-based entity it says used adverts that includes celebrities “as half of a bigger fraud scheme that lured individuals into becoming a member of so-called funding teams.” The corporate did not present particulars on what number of adverts these teams had run on Fb, what number of social media customers had seen or interacted with the adverts or how lengthy the scammers had been working on the platform.

So-called “celeb bait” adverts have been a long-running subject for the corporate. Engadget has beforehand documented celeb bait scams on Fb, together with ones that ceaselessly use Elon Musk and Fox Information personalities to hawk fake cures for diabetes. The Oversight Board has also criticized the corporate for not doing sufficient to fight such scams. In its replace, Meta says that “as a result of rip-off adverts are designed to look actual, they’re not all the time simple to detect.” The corporate additionally famous that it has now enrolled “greater than 500,000” celebrities and public figures into its facial recognition system that is meant to mechanically detect rip-off adverts utilizing the faces of well-known individuals.

Meta’s dealing with of scammy advertisers has come underneath elevated scrutiny in latest months after Reuters reported that researchers on the firm at one level estimated that as a lot as 10 % of its advert income could possibly be coming from scams and banned merchandise. The truth that Meta has made billions of {dollars} from problematic advertisers has additionally precipitated the corporate to be gradual to take motion in opposition to repeat offenders.

Along with the teams behind the celeb bait adverts, Meta says that it is upgraded its capability to detect rip-off adverts that use cloaking, which has at instances hindered its inside overview programs. The corporate additionally sued a Vietnam-based advertiser it says used rip-off adverts to hawk “deeply discounted gadgets from well-known manufacturers,” together with Longchamp.

Meta additionally took authorized motion in opposition to eight former “Meta Enterprise Companions,” who promoted providers that will “un-ban” or different “account restoration providers.” The corporate says it would “take into account taking further authorized motion, together with litigation, in the event that they don’t comply” with stop and desist orders.

Replace, February 26, 2026, 1:16PM PT: This story was up to date to specify that Meta’s inside estimates round advert income included scams and banned merchandise.