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Online safety · 26 October 2026

Who checks the advert before it reaches you?

On 22 October 2026 a state law officer in the United States asked a court to decide a question that comes with every advert on Facebook and Instagram: who checks an advert before it reaches your screen, and what happens when nobody does? Most adverts come from real shops, charities and services. This guide sets out what has been reported, what Meta, the company that owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, says in reply, what people report losing, and the one habit that works whichever account of the numbers a court accepts.

What was reported in 2025

On 6 November 2025 the news agency Reuters reported on internal Meta documents. According to that reporting, Meta projected that about 10 per cent of its 2024 revenue, roughly US$16 billion, would come from adverts for scams and banned goods, and the documents estimated that users were shown around 15 billion higher-risk scam adverts a day (as summarised by the consumer organisation Which?, 12 November 2025).

Meta replied that the 10 per cent figure was a rough and overly inclusive estimate, that the documents present a selective view of its approach to fraud, that it removed more than 134 million pieces of scam advert content in 2025, and that user reports of scam adverts fell by more than 50 per cent over fifteen months.

What was filed in 2026

On 22 October 2026 the Attorney General of Rhode Island, the state's chief law officer, filed a lawsuit against Meta in Providence County Superior Court under the state's Deceptive Trade Practices Act. The Attorney General's office says Rhode Island is the first state to sue Meta over this conduct.

The complaint alleges that Meta failed to curtail adverts for fraudulent products and financial scams although it says publicly that it uses sophisticated methods to prevent them; that it helped create, refine and distribute scam adverts, including by using account holder data to target people likely to respond; and that for some fraudulent adverts it charged advertisers a premium instead of removing them. It cites the 2025 Reuters reporting. It asks the court for a declaration that the Act was violated, an order to stop, repayment to Rhode Island consumers, civil penalties, and a monitor to check compliance.

Meta's spokesperson called the lawsuit unfounded, said the company will fight it, and said Meta works regularly with law enforcement against scammers. These are allegations, and a court will decide them.

What people report losing

The United States Federal Trade Commission published its own figures in April 2026. People in the United States reported losing US$2.1 billion in 2025 to scams that began on social media. Facebook had the most reported losses of any social media platform, followed by WhatsApp and Instagram. Shopping scams were the most reported kind, and investment scams carried the largest losses, at US$1.1 billion.

The same report covers every age. Among people aged 18 to 29 who reported a loss, 40 per cent said it began on social media; among people aged 60 to 69 the share was 29 per cent. Adverts on these platforms reach every age group, and the figures follow them.

Who does what

A safer online world for all depends on three groups. Platforms carry adverts and decide how they check them. Banks and payment services see the money move and can stop or return it. Each person decides, at the moment of a tap, whether to follow an advert. The lawsuit and the reporting concern the first group, and courts and regulators will weigh them. The third group is every reader.

What you can do today

Do not tap the advert. Search for the shop, company or person yourself, in a browser or an app store, type the company's own address or use a bookmark, and reach them that way. This works on every phone, Apple or Google, whichever account of the numbers proves right.

If an advert looks doubtful, paste its words into the free advert check at utilforge.org/tools/advert-check. It reads the words for common warning signs, such as a countdown, a price far below any shop's, a celebrity endorsing an investment, a job that pays you to like posts, a request to move to WhatsApp or to pay by gift card, a copy of a government service that charges a fee, or a request to sign in to a bank. It runs on your own phone. It cannot see pictures or confirm that a shop is real, and it never tells you that an advert is genuine.

If you have already paid, call your bank straight away on the number printed on the back of your card, then report the advert where you saw it: on Facebook and Instagram, use the three dots beside the advert. Official reporting services, country by country, are listed at utilforge.org/official-help. Tell someone you trust as well, because the next person to see that advert may be someone you love.

UtilForge.org is a 2026 Champion of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, a programme of the National Cybersecurity Alliance. Questions about an advert that has reached you can go to support@utilforge.org.

Sources (checked 26 October 2026)

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