Meta combats celebrity scam ads with face recognition tech

The problem of celebrity scams has been a long-running one for Meta.

It became so significant in the 2010s that Mr Lewis took legal action against Facebook, but he ultimately dropped the case when the tech giant agreed to introduce a button so people could report scam ads.

In addition to introducing the button, Facebook also agreed to donate £3m to Citizens Advice.

But, since then, the scams have become more complex and significantly more believable.

They are increasingly powered by so-called deepfake technology, where a realistic computer-generated likeness or video is used to make it seem like the celebrity is backing a product or service.

Meta has faced pressure to do something about the growing threat of these ads.

On Sunday, Mr Lewis urged the government, external to give the UK regulator, Ofcom, more powers to tackle scam ads after a fake interview with Chancellor Rachel Reeves was used to trick people into giving away their bank details.

“Scammers are relentless and continuously evolve their tactics to try to evade detection,” Meta acknowledged.

“We hope that by sharing our approach, we can help inform our industry’s defences against online scammers,” it added.