New Measures Target Fake Celebrity Endorsements and Investment Scams
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has announced new measures to curb fake celebrity endorsements and fraudulent financial advertisements targeting Australian users. Beginning in February 2025, advertisers promoting financial services on Meta platforms will be required to undergo a stringent verification process to increase transparency and combat scams.
Key Verification Requirements
Meta’s new policy will require advertisers worldwide targeting Australian users to provide detailed information for verification. The process includes:
- Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL): Businesses must provide their AFSL number, which will be authenticated by the Australian Securities Investment Commission (ASIC), or declare an exemption.
- Government-Issued ID: Individual advertisers must submit a valid government-issued identification document.
- Business Verification: Advertisers must upload official business documents and verify their association with the business, such as through a work email address.
Additionally, financial advertisements will need to display disclaimers similar to those used for political ads, allowing users to access information about the advertiser.
Implementation Timeline
The verification process will be enforced starting in February 2025 and is expected to take six weeks to complete. These measures will apply to advertisers globally but specifically target users in Australia, where investment scams have become a growing concern.
Responding to Rising Scam Threats
This move follows significant pressure from Australian regulators and lawmakers to address fraudulent ads, particularly those featuring deepfake images of celebrities like Martin Lewis, David Koch, Anthony Albanese, and others to promote fake investments.
In 2024, Australians reported $135 million in losses from investment scams, with $35 million attributed to social media scams, according to the National Anti-Scam Centre.
Meta is currently facing lawsuits from mining magnate Andrew Forrest and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) for alleged failures to address scam ads using fake celebrity endorsements.
Global Precedents and Legislative Push
The verification requirement has already been implemented in Taiwan and the United Kingdom. Its Australian rollout coincides with the federal government’s pending Scams Prevention Framework legislation, which will mandate digital platforms to verify advertisers to combat fraud.
David Agranovich, Meta’s Director of Global Threat Disruption, told The Guardian Australia that the company expects scammers to attempt evasion but believes the new restrictions will reduce their effectiveness.
“Scammers are highly adversarial and highly motivated… the more friction we can inject into their operations, the less effective they can be, the more costly their operations become, and ideally, the less attractive our platforms become for scammers to use,” Agranovich said.
Facial Recognition Trials and Ongoing Efforts
In addition to the verification measures, Meta recently began trialling facial recognition technology to identify fake celebrity endorsements in advertisements.
A parliamentary committee is currently reviewing the government’s scams prevention legislation, with a report expected by the end of January 2025.
A Step Towards Safer Online Advertising
Meta’s new measures aim to inject accountability and transparency into financial advertising, making it more difficult for scammers to exploit unsuspecting users. With Australia leading the legislative push for stronger protections against scams, these actions mark a significant step in safeguarding the digital financial ecosystem.
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