Potential scam ads are appearing on Instagram and Facebook, according to analysis from consumer group Which? and research charity Demos.
Examination of more than 1,000 ads on the two Meta platforms found nearly half (484) were investment related.
Of those, approximately half were for investment products, including cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens, that are not regulated.
Some advertised investment products were unclear, claiming to offer high returns without specifying how the returns were obtained.
According to the analysis of ads, a banned form of trading was being advertised.
A small number of ads for binary options were being displayed despite the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) having banned their sale and marketing in 2019.
A binary option is a financial product in which an investor bets on an outcome, over a specified time period, having been given two options to choose. The FCA has banned them because it says they are gambling products dressed up as financial instruments.
Consumers were warned by the financial watchdog to be alert to such investment scams when binary options were banned.
Responding to Which?’s analysis, Meta said: “We removed a number of the ads brought to our attention for breaking our rules, many of which had already been disabled prior to being contacted by Which?.
“Promoting financial scams is against our policies and we’re dedicating significant resources to tackling this industry-wide issue on and off our…
