This week, a class-action suit was filed in Washington, D.C. against Meta, alleging that the company deceived Facebook users regarding fraudulent advertisements and profited from them financially. Tycko and Zavareei LLP along with Tech Justice Law lodged the complaint on April 21 under the D.C. Consumer Protection Procedures Act for the Consumer Federation of America and Facebook users in Washington, D.C. The filing claims that while Meta asserts it is tackling scams publicly, internal documents (released by Reuters in December 2025) show it is generating billions from such activities.

The documents suggest that in 2024, Meta predicted that around 10 percent of its revenue — roughly $16 billion — would come from advertising scams and prohibited products. Users are said to encounter 15 billion “high-risk” scam ads each day, according to these documents. It is alleged that Meta charged these high-risk advertisers a premium while disregarding 96 percent of legitimate user fraud claims.

“Meta has, by company policy, knowingly profited from widespread, unforgivable harm to users on its platforms,” attorney and managing director at Tech Justice Law, Sarah Kay Wiley, remarked in a press release. “Meta informed its users it was combating fraud. Internally, it was exacting higher fees from scammers for access to those same users. This isn’t merely a failure of enforcement; it’s a business model rooted in exploitative deceit.”

A Meta representative informed Mashable, “These accusations distort the reality of our efforts, and we will contest them.”

“We vigorously combat scams across our platforms to safeguard individuals and businesses — just last year, we removed over 159 million scam ads, 92 percent of which were taken down before anyone flagged them, and deleted 10.9 million accounts on Facebook and Instagram linked to criminal scam operations. We fight scams because they are detrimental to business — people dislike them, advertisers reject them, and we do not want them either,” the spokesperson added.

The lawsuit surfaces weeks after Meta revealed new tools to combat scams on its platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, including collaborations with law enforcement. In recent years, Meta has allegedly turned down ads from legitimate companies, including the sex toy retailer Unbound (until they created deceptive ads aimed at men) and the healthcare service Daye.