Meta removes nearly 6m scam ads after DSA reports

Nearly 6 million scam advertisements were removed from Meta platforms in 2025 after reports filed by the Lithuanian disinformation analysis centre Debunk.org through the EU Digital Services Act (DSA) Trusted Flagger mechanism.

In its first annual report as a Trusted Flagger, Debunk.org said 26,255 Facebook pages linked to fraud, illegal gambling and impersonation of public authorities were taken down. It estimated the number of associated advertisements at about 5.9 million.

Debunk.org also estimated the removed adverts generated an aggregated reach of about 2.34 billion across EU member states, based on Meta's publicly available Ads Library data.

The group said reach figures reflect platform estimates of unique accounts reached per advert. It cautioned that aggregating reach across millions of adverts can result in individual users being counted multiple times. As a result, total impressions were likely higher, while the number of unique individuals reached was likely lower.

Trusted Flagger data

Under the DSA, Trusted Flaggers submit notices about illegal content, which platforms are expected to prioritise. Trusted Flaggers also publish annual transparency reports.

Debunk.org said it was appointed under Article 22 of the DSA in March 2025, with its reporting period covering April to December 2025.

During that time, it filed 1,476 formal reports covering the 26,255 Facebook pages and reported an overall removal rate of 99.8% after submission.

Debunk.org put the average response time for a platform decision at 75.4 hours. It said the high removal rate suggests most cases involved clearly illegal commercial activity, including financial fraud, impersonation of law enforcement, unlicensed gambling operations and deceptive medical product schemes.

"The data show industrial-scale misuse of digital advertising infrastructure for criminal or illegal purposes," said Viktoras Dauksas, head of Debunk.org. "This report concerns fraud, illegal gambling and impersonation - which are unrelated to any questions of 'freedom of speech'."

Scam networks

The report grouped its findings into several large networks. One involved fraudulent medical advertising, in which Debunk.org said 2,839,613 advertisements were removed and 8,735 Facebook pages were taken down.

In that category, the group estimated the adverts reached more than 22 million users. It said the activity used fake "Dr." personas to promote unverified and potentially harmful medical products.

Another category involved impersonation of law enforcement. Debunk.org said 50,426 advertisements were removed and 1,139 pages were taken down, involving about 460 domains.

It is estimated that the law enforcement impersonation campaigns reach 52.7 million users. The group said the campaigns impersonated Interpol, Europol, the FBI, the European Central Bank and national police forces, aiming to extract advance "fees" from previous scam victims.

Illegal gambling adverts made up a large share of the activity described in the report. Debunk.org linked 2,227,041 removed advertisements and 12,160 removed pages to an illegal gambling network, including games such as "Chicken Road". It is estimated to reach exceeding 340 million users.

The group said the adverts promoted unlicensed gambling operations and used deepfakes and fabricated news-style content.

Another category covered is investment scam schemes associated with USDT. Debunk.org said 91,610 advertisements and 3,799 pages were removed. It said these campaigns promoted unrealistic daily returns through fraudulent "AI trading" and staking platforms.

Wider scrutiny

Debunk.org said the report focuses on criminal or illegal commercial activity and the misuse of advertising tools, not lawful political speech or opinion.

It said the findings align with earlier reporting about scam advertising exposure on the platform, including internal Meta documents previously reported by Reuters.

Debunk.org said it does not have access to Meta's internal financial data. However, it argued that the scale and coordination of the illegal campaigns point to a structural challenge rather than isolated incidents.

Debunk.org describes itself as an independent technology organisation and NGO. It researches disinformation and foreign information manipulation and interference, runs media literacy education programmes in 22 countries, and conducts monitoring and analysis during elections across Europe and in regions including Africa, Latin America and Asia.

Looking ahead, Debunk.org said annual transparency reporting under the DSA Trusted Flagger framework will provide a continuing stream of data on illegal content trends and platform response times.