Authorities across the Tasman are getting increasingly fed up with social media companies not taking action against fraudulent advertisements that run on their sites, targeting users with investment offers and deals designed to fleece those who fall for them.
Such online scams often "borrow" the identities of well-known people to lend an air of legitimacy to them. In April this year, scammers created advertisements for a foreign exchange scam, featuring New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and outgoing Indonesia president Joko Widodno, using pictures taken from an official ASEAN meeting.
People over 65 suffered a quarter of all losses reported, Australian Scamwatch data suggested.
Starting in November last year, the Australian Treasury began consulting on mandatory industry codes that would outline the responsibilities banks, digital communications platforms and telcos bear in relation to scam activity.
A spokesperson for the Australian National Anti-Scam Centre, which is operated by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), told interest.co.nz it remains committed to ensuring there are no weak links for scammers to exploit.
"We continue to work with Treasury in its development of a Scams Code Framework with mandatory and enforceable obligations on banks, telecommunications providers, and digital platforms," the spokesperson said.
By the end of the year, Australia expects to introduce laws that force the above companies to comply with the industry codes, or face fines of up to A$50 million, or triple the benefit gained from the breach, or 30% of the turnover at the time of the infraction.
Social media companies are very much in the government's sights. Australian Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones singled out Meta and TikTok as two companies that must do better.
"Meta and TikTok are not plucky little start-ups," Jones said in May.
"They're some of the biggest companies with the most advanced technology in the world. If they can work out what type of snake you like or what kind of music you're into, they can get scammers off their platforms," he added.
Jones said Facebook, Twitter (now X), TikTok and Instagram make big money out of accepting fraudulent advertising and warned of big fines if the companies don't comply with the "high bar of expectations" the government intends to set.
Meta is pushing back on efforts to introduce an anti-scam code, with Mia Garlick, the social network's director of policy for Australia, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, saying the issue is a society-wide challenge.
In February this year, Garlick stated that the majority, or 84%, of scams in Australia happen via text messages, phone or email. In comparison, only 6% take place via social networks and online forums, and a further 6% "via the Internet", Garlick said.
The ACCC said that text messages were the most reported contact method in 2023, with just under 110,000 brought to the watchdog's attention that year. Phone call scamming caused the biggest losses, reported at A$116 million, with social media frauds coming second at A$93.5 million, an increase of 16.5%.
Figures from Netsafe and the Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA) for New Zealand, which is also experiencing an uptick in online fraud, pointed to Facebook and Google Gmail being "the primary hunting grounds" for scammers. In NZ, the estimated losses to scams stand at NZ$2.05 billion as of 2023.
Despite stating that social network scams are relatively few compared to other channels, Meta's Garlick in June said from the middle of that month, "new advertisers may be required to have a verified phone number associated with their ad account before publishing ads."
This would take the form of Meta sending five-digit confirmation codes through SMS texts, voice calls or WhatsApp, to account administrators to valid phone numbers before ads can be published.
Meanwhile, Jones gave users some top tips to avoid getting ripped off by scammers:
- Never click those bloody blue links in emails or text messages.
- If something seems too good to be true, it probably is.
- Never give out your personal or financial information.
- Don’t respond to phone calls promoting investment scheme.
4 Comments
Meta is pushing back on efforts to introduce an anti-scam code, with Mia Garlick, the social network's director of policy for Australia, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, saying the issue is a society-wide challenge.
And Australia are pushing back on Meta to protect their society from this fraudulent activity that Meta cannot be bothered to sort. Time to wake up Meta, the world has had enough...
It seems social media firms are immune to reputational forces, as they don't see it as necessary to protect their name.
We all know that they are free-fire zones for: mendacity, opinion presented as fact, misinformation, disinformation, toxic behaviour, spam, scams and all the rest - but people still participate.
Just how neurotic are we about missing out?
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