Meta Sued Over Scam Ads: Jury Trial Seeks Damages

0:00A new lawsuit just dropped against Meta in Washington, D.C., filed by the Consumer Federation of America, a group repping over 200 consumers. Oh, guys, they're slamming Facebook and Instagram for letting scam ads run wild, stuff like fake promises of $1,400 checks based on your birth year, free government iPhones, or even banned crib bumpers. These ads often use AI videos to look legit, and the suit says Meta's known about this for years, but hasn't cracked down hard. Instead of banning risky advertisers outright, Meta jacks up their fees with what they call penalty bids, so the shadier the ad, the more cash Meta pockets. That setup's led to massive fallout. Meta's own estimates put 15 billion scam ads hitting users daily with over 10% of their 20. 24 earnings, about $16 billion, coming from scams, illegal gambling, and ban goods. Members in D.C. are getting hit hardest with fraud.

1:00Meta's pushing back hard, saying the claims twist the truth. Their spokesperson noted they yanked over 159 million scam ads last year alone, 92% before any reports, plus, shut, down 10.9 million accounts tied to scam-ups. This case heads to a jury trial, seeking damages for local folks burned by these ads, could force Meta to rethink how they chase profits over. Stay sharp out there scanning those feeds. From your city, powered by AI, this is California News Today. I'm Corey with The Story.