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Australia’s competition regulator has highlighted that the majority of crypto ads on Meta’s Facebook are likely scams.
According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s <a href="https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/FCA/2024/890.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">filing</a> with the Federal Court of Australia, Meta has been aware since 2018 that a significant portion of the cryptocurrency-related advertisements on Facebook were “misleading” or leveraged “deceptive promotional practices.”
During its preliminary analysis, the regulator found that over 58% of the crypto ads it reviewed were either scams or violated Meta’s Advertising Policies. So far, the ACCC has identified 600 ads that promote celebrity scams.
These adverts typically use images of key figures and celebrities in <a href="https://crypto.news/tag/australia/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Australia</a> to mislead investors before defrauding them via crypto <a href="https://crypto.news/crypto-scammer-pleads-guilty-to-ai-trading-bot-scam/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">investment scams</a>. The filing highlights several names, such as actors Chris Hemsworth and Mel Gibson, alongside political figures like Mike Baird, whose <a href="https://crypto.news/australias-7news-gets-hacked-on-youtube-to-promote-crypto-scam-involving-elon-musk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">likenesses have been used</a> in these fake ads.
For instance, in February 2024, cybersecurity firm Cybertrace <a href="https://crypto.news/cybertrace-raises-alarm-over-deep-fake-crypto-scam-involving-australian-tycoon-andrew-forrest/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">issued an alert</a> regarding scammers using deep fake videos of Australian mining tycoon and entrepreneur Andrew Forrest to promote a fake crypto trading app.
The ACCC added that it expects to find other instances of such scams once the discovery process begins.&nbsp;
Further, the filing alleges that Meta possesses the ability to issue warnings on ads that it displays, specifically to inform users that certain advertisements, but has not done so. Instead, it takes down individual ads when it receives a complaint but continues to “earn revenue” from similar ads that sometimes feature the same celebrity.
You might also like: <a href="https://crypto.news/australias-police-joins-global-campaign-to-disrupt-crypto-scams/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> Australia’s police joins global campaign to disrupt crypto scams </a>
The regulatory agency initially <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/accc-takes-action-over-alleged-misleading-conduct-by-meta-for-publishing-scam-celebrity-crypto-ads-on-facebook" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">took Meta to court</a> in 2022 after alleging that the firm engaged in “deceptive conduct” by allowing scam celebrity-themed crypto ads. Prior to that, the agency had started investigating the tech behemoth for breaching Australian consumer law.&nbsp;As of now, a hearing date has not been confirmed.
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="australia-faces-surge-in-crypto-scams">Australia faces surge in crypto scams</h2>
Australia has witnessed a spike in scams, as evidenced by scamwatch <a href="https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/research-and-resources/scam-statistics" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">data</a>. Over 143,000 reported cases resulted in $134.47 in losses, and investment scams accounted for over $78 million lost.
The crypto sector in Australia has seen a spike in illicit activity, which led AUSTRAC to award cryptocurrencies a “high” risk factor in its 2024 Money Laundering National Risk Assessment. A 2023 report from the Australian Financial Crimes Exchange revealed that over <a href="https://crypto.news/crypto-scammers-drained-3b-from-australians-in-2022/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">$3 billion was lost</a> to crypto scammers the previous year.
Authorities in the nation have taken various steps over the past months to curb scams involving cryptocurrencies. On Aug. 5, the Australian Federal Police <a href="https://crypto.news/australias-police-joins-global-campaign-to-disrupt-crypto-scams/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">announced Operation Spincaster</a> in collaboration with blockchain forensic firm Chainalysis to recover crypto funds stolen from non-custodial wallets.&nbsp;Meanwhile, major banks in the nation have been <a href="https://crypto.news/hsbc-australia-blocks-payments-to-crypto-exchanges-amid-rising-scam-concerns/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">restricting payments</a> to crypto exchanges, citing a surge in crypto investment scams.
Read more: <a href="https://crypto.news/hsbc-australia-blocks-payments-to-crypto-exchanges-amid-rising-scam-concerns/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> HSBC Australia blocks payments to crypto exchanges amid rising scam concerns </a>

Australian regulator takes Meta to court over ‘deceptive’ crypto ads on Facebook

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