Meta Platforms has launched a series of new features designed to combat online fraud across its platforms – Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger – and has removed 159 million fraudulent ads in 2025. The moves arrive amid increasing scrutiny over the volume of scams facilitated on the company’s services and follow reports detailing the significant revenue Meta generates from fraudulent advertising.
For WhatsApp, the new features alert users when a connection request from another device may be fraudulent. Meta explained that scammers often attempt to gain access to user accounts by tricking individuals into sharing verification codes or scanning malicious QR codes. “Scammers may try to trick you into linking your WhatsApp account to their device,” Meta stated. “For example, they might ask you to share your phone number and then a WhatsApp verification code, or try to trick you into scanning a QR code under a false pretense, which would link their device to your account.”
The changes to WhatsApp follow warnings from Dutch military intelligence and security services (MIVD and AIVD) in December 2025, which revealed that Russian state-backed hackers were targeting Dutch government employees through phishing campaigns on Signal and WhatsApp.
WhatsApp allows users to link multiple devices – computers, phones, and tablets – to a single account for seamless messaging. This is achieved by scanning a QR code generated by the primary mobile device, authorizing the new device to access and synchronize messages. Although, if an attacker successfully tricks a user into linking a malicious device, they can gain access to the victim’s messages and potentially send messages on their behalf.
On Facebook, Meta is testing notifications that flag suspicious friend requests. The system evaluates multiple indicators to identify potentially fraudulent accounts, such as a slight number of mutual contacts or a profile location inconsistent with the user’s region.
For Messenger, Meta is expanding its fraud detection feature to additional countries this month. This feature identifies potential scams, such as suspicious job offers from new contacts, and allows users to report questionable conversations for review by artificial intelligence. The company is also deploying AI systems to analyze text, images, and contextual signals to identify impersonations of celebrities, fake brands, and deceptive links used to redirect victims to fraudulent websites.
Meta reported removing over 159 million fraudulent ads and disabling more than 10.9 million accounts on Facebook and Instagram linked to criminal fraudulent operations in 2025. The company also launched information campaigns in various regions to help people recognize scams before becoming victims, including a collaboration with the U.S. Department of State and others on the “Trapped in Scam Crime” campaign in Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and other countries.
Internal documents revealed in November 2025 showed Meta anticipated generating approximately $16 billion in revenue from fraudulent ads and prohibited goods in 2024 – roughly 10% of its total annual income. The same documents indicated that Meta’s platforms displayed an estimated 15 billion “high-risk” fraudulent ads to users daily. A report by Reuters also indicated that Meta expects to pay $1 billion in fines related to fraudulent advertising, a figure significantly lower than the $3.5 billion in revenue it anticipates earning from such ads.
According to a report from Seznam Zprávy, Meta has the technical capability to identify fraudulent ads but prioritizes revenue over complete eradication, increasing the cost of advertising for potentially fraudulent content rather than removing it outright.
