European consumer groups, including BEUC and member groups from 27 countries, filed formal complaints on May 21 against Google, Meta, and TikTok for insufficiently addressing financial scam advertisements on their platforms [1, 2, 3, 4, 5].
Between December 2025 and March 2026, these groups reported nearly 900 ads suspected of violating EU laws to the platforms. Yet only about 27% of the flagged ads were removed, while 52% of scam reports were ignored or rejected, according to the consumer groups [1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 5].
BEUC Director General Agustin Reyna criticized the platforms, saying they "not only fail to proactively remove fraudulent ads but also do little when being notified about such scams. If they fail to address the financial scams circulating on their platforms, fraudsters will continue to reach millions of European consumers daily, leaving people at risk of losing hundreds to thousands of euros to fraud" [1].
Google countered that it blocks over 99% of violating ads before they run, with constant updates to its defenses to stay ahead of scammers. A Google spokesperson said, "We strictly enforce our ad policies, blocking over 99% of violating ads before they ever run. Our teams constantly update these defences to stay ahead of scammers and protect people" [2].
Meta stated it removed over 159 million scam ads last year, with 92% taken down before being reported through advanced AI tools and partnerships. A Meta spokesperson said, "We invest in advanced AI, tools, and partnerships to stop them. Last year we found and removed over 159 million scam ads, 92% before anyone reported them to us" [3].
TikTok acknowledged scams are an industry-wide challenge and said it takes action against violations, though it did not provide detailed data. In a statement, TikTok said, "We take action against violations, adding that scams are an industry-wide challenge while bad actors constantly adapt their tactics" [3, 4, 5].
Under the EU Digital Services Act, the platforms could face fines up to 6% of their global annual turnover if found non-compliant [1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 5]. The complaints have been filed with the European Commission and national regulators. Investigations and enforcement actions are expected to follow.
