So you’ll see this spurious ad. Then you realize that it’s a bad actor in the FB system targeting Taiwan users. So you report it as a scam.
You report it to FB as a scam.
FB typically responds like that, despite all the warning signs. Did a human actually read the site? I doubt.
Typically the ad is gone quickly because it either attracted attention or failed. It’s gone.
But the profile is still there. So really FB, are you telling me that someone who sells fake degrees, cancer cures and cat food is likely to be trustworthy selling loan leads? What kind of chump do you take your users for?
Don’t worry. It seems that the ad has been removed but by whom? It’s no longer listed in the Ad Center history page. Does this suggest it was removed by FB?
Not surprisingly the administrators are located in … China and Vietnam: home for many scammers these days. Probably the ring leaders are in China while the centers where the scams are run from are in Vietnam. FB knows a lot more about who these people are but doesn’t share this.
I recorded this because each time I got the FB feedback, I felt like a fool. I felt like I was being blindsided, emotionally manipulated by someone constantly undermining what I believe had happened. I’m quite suggestible, but I’m not a neophyte at the net stuff.
Now I am a fool but not for being manipulated by FB. I’m a fool for using it. We are the product to be sold to whoever is willing to pay.
Here are the Fraud and Deception | Transparency Center (meta.com):
So I started to dig through FB’s own ad center. What I found dismayed me:
Dozens of ads all targeting European countries, like this on a variety of hot button topics: electricity, housing, education…
Now forgive me… but why is the Payer Facebook? Is there something I’m missing here. Other ads have a defined Payer who is not FB.
I didn’t have time to check all the ads but I found that the reach for these ads heavily skews towards 65+ and while male are higher than other age groups, the primary reach is usually female 65+! Yes, it seems that females of a certain age are more likely to see (click?) these ads.
Delving into more detail, I found that the mobile phone number they cited in their page details is:
A Lyca Mobile Phone Number.