Overview
- Filed Dec. 30 in the Superior Court on St. Croix, the case seeks civil penalties under the territory’s consumer-protection laws.
- The complaint cites reporting on internal projections that about 10% of 2024 revenue—roughly $16 billion—was tied to scams, illegal gambling and banned products.
- The suit points to enforcement systems that allegedly required about 95% certainty before blocking suspected scam advertisers, allowing fraudulent ads to persist.
- Attorney General Gordon C. Rhea calls it the first attorney-general action targeting scam-ad revenue at Meta, following senators’ requests for SEC and FTC reviews.
- Meta denies wrongdoing; spokesperson Andy Stone says the company fights fraud and reports of scams from users have fallen by half over the last 18 months.