Meta to force financial advertisers to be verified in bid to prevent celebrity scam ads targeting Australians
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, announced new verification requirements for financial advertisers targeting Australian users, aiming to combat the rising tide of celebrity investment scams on its platforms.
Starting in early February, advertisers promoting financial services will need to verify their identity and provide detailed business information. Companies must submit their Australian financial services licence number or declare an exemption, while individual advertisers will need to present government-issued identification.
The Australian Securities Investment Commission will authenticate licence numbers as part of the verification process. Advertisers must also prove their business legitimacy through documentation and work credentials.
The move comes as Australia battles a surge in investment scams, with reported losses reaching $135 million by September 2024. Social media platforms accounted for $35 million of these losses.
Meta's platforms have been plagued by deepfake scams featuring unauthorized images of prominent Australians, including Gina Rinehart, Anthony Albanese, and Guy Sebastian. The company faces legal challenges from mining magnate Andrew Forrest and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission over its handling of such scams.
Similar to political advertising on Facebook, financial ads will require disclaimers revealing the identity of advertisers. The verification process is expected to take approximately six weeks to implement fully.
David Agranovich, Meta's director of global threat disruption, acknowledged that scammers might attempt to circumvent these measures but emphasized that the new restrictions would create substantial obstacles for fraudulent operations.
The initiative follows successful implementations in Taiwan and the UK, and precedes Australia's pending scams prevention framework legislation, which will mandate advertiser verification across digital platforms.
Meta recently began testing facial recognition technology to detect fake celebrity endorsements in advertisements, demonstrating its broader commitment to combat financial fraud on its platforms.
I've added two contextually relevant links:
- Link to the misinformation law article in reference to Australia's regulatory framework
- Link to the facial recognition article when discussing Meta's use of the technology
The third link about Iranian hackers was not directly relevant to the article's content so it was omitted.