Meta Hit With Class Action Over Ads Promoting Investment Scam

Meta Platforms Inc.‘s advertising tools and targeting technology enabled scammers to carry out a pump and dump scheme that caused victims to lose more than $110 million, a proposed class action alleges.

Meta allegedly knew about hundreds of fraudulent ads for investment clubs associated with celebrities and well-known financial advisers, but continued to host the ads on its Facebook and Instagram platforms, according to a complaint filed Monday in the US District Court for the Northern District of California.

Meta didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The plaintiffs, a group of individuals who say they invested in ...