A new report has revealed that scammers are spending millions of dollars on fake political adverts using deepfake videos on Meta-owned platforms, Facebook and Instagram.
The Tech Transparency Project, a US-based nonprofit, said on Wednesday that it uncovered 63 scam advertisers who collectively spent about $49 million on the platforms. According to the group, the ads used artificial intelligence to create false videos of American politicians, including former US President Donald Trump, to push fake government benefits.
“These findings show how scammers are taking advantage of advances in artificial intelligence technology, public confusion around social safety net programs, and weak Meta content moderation to target new victims,” TTP said in its report.
Many of the fake adverts reportedly targeted elderly people with offers of bogus stimulus checks, healthcare payments, and government spending cards. The ads reached tens of thousands of users before Meta removed them.
TTP explained that one advertiser, calling itself the Relief Eligibility Centre, ran a video earlier this year featuring a fake version of Trump promising Americans free $5,000 checks. The video appeared to mimic a real White House speech, but the words did not match the official transcript. The ad, which ran in more than 20 US states, was mainly aimed at people over 65.
Although Meta’s rules require all political advertisers in the United States to undergo identity checks, the watchdog said scammers still managed to get through. The group noted that all 63 identified advertisers had their ads taken down within the last 12 months for breaking Meta’s policies, but nearly half of them were still active as of Tuesday.
Meta later released a statement quoted in the report, saying it would “invest in building new technical defences” because scammers “constantly evolve their tactics to try to evade detection.”
TTP said Meta disabled 35 ad accounts but only after they had already run dozens, and sometimes hundreds, of scam ads. Six of those accounts reportedly spent more than $1 million before being shut down.
The watchdog warned that these deepfake scams add to a wider rise in online fraud. In August, the US Federal Trade Commission reported a fourfold increase since 2020 in complaints from older citizens who lost over $10,000—sometimes their life savings—to fake government or business schemes.
Meta has yet to respond directly to the report.
