Facebook criticised for profits from scam adverts

Facebook has come under fire for taking money from con artists to promote scams in its news feeds – just weeks before the social media giant is due to give evidence to the parliamentary fake news inquiry.

Recent adverts promoted in news feeds include fabricated claims that Sir Richard Branson “hacked” cryptocurrency exchanges, as well as links to get-rich-quick schemes renowned as online scams, and attempts to steal people’s passwords.

Damian Collins, chairman of the digital, culture, media and sport committee, said fake adverts were “detrimental to the consumer and undermine trust in advertising as a whole”. He said: “Fake adverts displayed on social media platforms are a real problem and one that the social media companies must tackle.”