The Scam Ad Checklist – Mathew's Library

01 The four signs

On October 22, 2026, Rhode Island became the first US state to sue Meta over scam ads. The ads in its lawsuit share four signs. Any one of them is a reason to stop; two or more, and it's almost certainly a scam.

The impossible promise. A promise no honest business makes. In the lawsuit: "ten percent a week" on an investment, and Alzheimer's "reversed in 45 days" with cinnamon and honey. No investment pays 10% a week, and no ad can cure an incurable disease. Meta says it doesn't allow ads that claim to.

The fake news page. A page dressed up as real news. The Alzheimer's ads led to a page styled as CNN Health, and some used fake references to 60 Minutes. Check the web address at the top of the page: a real news site's address is its own name.

The famous face. A famous person selling something they've never talked about. The ads in the lawsuit impersonated Meryl Streep, Morgan Freeman, Dolly Parton and Dr. Oz. If a star "endorses" a cure or an investment, search their name with the product before believing it.

The copies. The same ad in hundreds of versions. One ad promising to reverse Alzheimer's ran in more than 2,000 versions, the lawsuit says, from a small network of accounts. The comments under them were the same names and the same words, ad after ad.

02 Check an ad in seconds

Meta's Ad Library is Meta's public list of the ads running on its apps, like Facebook and Instagram. Anyone can search it. It's where the 2,000 versions of the Alzheimer's ad were counted.

Go to facebook.com/ads/library. Pick your country and "All ads". Type the advertiser's name (the name above the word "Sponsored"), or a few words from the ad. Look at what comes back: how many versions of the same promise, when they started running, and whether the same picture shows up under different names.

Polished is not proof. In a Reuters reporter's test, quoted in the lawsuit, Meta's own tool rewrote an obvious "10% a week" ad and added a new line: "Tired of living paycheck to paycheck? Break the cycle and start earning a steady weekly income with our proven system." The ads went live within 20 minutes. A scam ad can look as smooth as a real one.

03 Show someone before they meet one

The FBI's numbers, cited in the lawsuit: in 2025, people in Rhode Island lost almost $72 million to fraud, and one in five of those complaints came from people over 60. The simplest protection is seeing a polished scam ad before one shows up in the feed.

A message to send

Hi [NAME], a quick one. Some ads on Facebook and Instagram are scams,
and they look very real. Four signs:
1. A promise that's too good (like 10% a week, or a disease cured in 45 days)
2. A page that looks like the news but isn't
3. A famous person selling something they never talk about
4. The same ad over and over
If you see one, don't click. Send it to me and I'll check it with you.

04 If you buy ads on Meta

The fake-brand ads are the same problem from the other side: someone runs ads with your name on them. Search your own brand name in the Ad Library (step 2 above) and see who else is using it.

Search your brand name and your product names. Any page you don't run, using your name or your pictures, is a fake-brand ad.

Search your founder's or spokesperson's name. The famous-face sign works on smaller names too.

Sources

Rhode Island Attorney General: Attorney General Neronha sues Meta for fraudulent advertisements Rhode Island v. Meta: the complaint (85 pages) Reuters: Rhode Island sues Meta over alleged tolerance for scam advertising Meta Ad Library

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