Meta moves to dismantle fraudulent ad networks in Vietnam
VOV.VN - Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has announced a series of measures to crack down on fraudulent advertising networks, including filing a lawsuit against a Vietnam-based advertising account accused of impersonating well-known brands and using tactics to defraud users.
Accordingly, the company has taken legal action against L.V.L, an advertising account in Vietnam, for deploying “cloaking” techniques to bypass Meta’s ad review process. Cloaking is a deceptive practice in which a seemingly legitimate version of a website is shown to ad reviewers, while users are redirected to entirely different content.
The individual allegedly ran scam advertisements promoting heavily discounted products from major brands, such as Longchamp, requiring users to complete an online survey to access the offers.
Upon interacting with the ads, users were redirected to websites requesting credit card details to complete a purchase. However, no products were delivered. Instead, victims’ credit cards were subjected to unauthorised recurring charges - a type of recurring billing scam.
In the first six months of 2025 alone, Meta detected and removed nearly 12 million accounts globally linked to scam centres across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. In Vietnam, during the same period, the company deleted more than 5.4 million pieces of content on Facebook and 14,000 on Instagram for violating policies related to fraud, scams and misleading practices. Over 116,000 Facebook accounts and 28,000 Instagram accounts were suspended, with 65% of violations on Facebook and 93% on Instagram identified and removed proactively.
Recently, Meta also issued cease-and-desist letters to eight businesses that provided fraudulent services, including account recovery services and the rental of access to “trusted” accounts designed to help clients evade Meta’s enforcement systems. The company said it will consider further legal action, including lawsuits, if the entities fail to comply.
To curb such schemes in the future and ensure consistent platform standards, Meta is reviewing its business partner ecosystem and strengthening its vetting procedures to improve the approval process for entities seeking to join its partner network.
Online scams cost Vietnamese victims nearly US$1.6 billion, say police
VOV.VN - Vietnamese victims have lost nearly VND40 trillion (about US$1.6 billion) to more than 24,000 online scams since 2020, as cybercriminals increasingly use sophisticated tactics and exploit psychological vulnerabilities, according to the Ministry of Public Security.
