Adverts for cryptocurrency, investment and slimming scams featuring public figures including Keir Starmer, Dua Lipa and King Charles were among those referred to the Scam Ad Alert System in 2024, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has revealed.
The ASA runs the Scam Ad Alert System to ‘complement and enhance the work already being done by digital advertising and social media platforms and other regulatory and law enforcement bodies to tackle scam ads and, more broadly, other fraudulent activity online,’ the regulator says.
The new figures indicate the most common and rapidly spreading types of scam, as well as different companies’ response rates to reports of scam adverts. In 2024, the ASA received 1,691 reports of potential scams through its quick reporting form. Of those, 177 were referred to online platforms for removal and to ‘further act on intelligence’.
The vast majority of Scam Ad Alerts centred around celebrities and other public figures, with a growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) to create deepfakes – videos, images or audio clips that have been digitally manipulated to create a convincing but fake piece of media. Among these was a deepfake video ad featuring King Charles recommending cryptocurrency investment.
The ASA advises consumers who see ads featuring celebrity endorsements to do some checks before handing over their details, especially if the offer seems too good to be true or uses pressure tactics. “Check if they are posting from their official account and consider if the ad seems out of character. While some celebrities do endorse products, they don’t usually promote complex investments or wonder cures. As ever, if it seems too good to be true it probably is,” the ASA cautioned.
Travel scam ads – particularly for free or heavily discounted local travel – were part of an emerging trend in 2024. These ads included promotions for ‘unlimited travel’ for a one-off fee. Travel companies impersonated included Transport for Greater Manchester, Great Western Railway and ScotRail. Landing pages asked users to hand over personal details to obtain the offer.
Ads for heavily discounted big brands were another frequent scam, with products such as iPhones being offered at rock-bottom prices, and references to trusted supermarkets and other retailers being used to lend the bogus ads credibility. Many of them claimed that the retailer was being forced to sell the products cheaply to get rid of stock, implying that only selected or lucky customers would get the deal. Landing pages asked for personal and financial details so the product could be sent out – needless to say, the goods never arrive.
Response rates
The response rates of the tech companies that the ASA contacted about scam ads are also included in the figures, revealing which of them are the most – and least – pro-active in removing offending ads from their platforms.
The ASA says it expects participating platforms to respond to Scam Ad Alerts within 48 hours to confirm they have removed the reported ad. The regulator’s target for 2024 was a response rate within 48 hours of at least 80%.
Microsoft came top of the class, with a 100% response rate within 48 hours. It was followed by Facebook owner Meta, with a 91% response rate within 48 hours, and 9% of cases being dealt with subsequently.
Outbrain, which hosts online ads on third-party websites, managed an 88% response rate within 48 hours, and responded to 12% of ads after that.
Google responded to 68% of Scam Ad Alerts within 48 hours, and 27% subsequently. In 5% of cases it failed to respond at all.
Bottom of the list was X Corp, the Elon Musk-owned social media company. It managed to respond to just 23% of scam ads within 48 hours, and 5% after that. In 72% of cases, it failed to respond at all. The ASA noted, however, that once problems with contact arrangements had been resolved, X managed a response rate of 80% within 48 hours in the final three months of the year.
The ASA said: “We are encouraged that the majority of platforms responded to 80% or more of Alerts within 48 hours. We successfully engaged with the other platforms to increase their response rates. That included working closely with Google to trial their Priority Flagger Program which led to significant improvement, with a response rate of 94% within 48 hours (and 100% response overall) in the final three months of the year.”
The ASA is encouraging consumers to report any suspected scams seen in paid-for ad space online, including paid-for search ads; ads on news websites and other online publications; and paid-for ads on social media platforms, games or apps.
“Reporting a scam to us or other bodies helps prevents other people from falling victim to scams and may help stop criminal activity,” the ASA said. “We share all Scam Ad Alerts with the government’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). They operate the government’s takedown service, which seeks to remove malicious email addresses and websites.”
