When I see an obvious scam store posting on Facebook, I report it(with the reasons I think a scam is being run and the evidence I’ve collected to back up the claim). Facebook has never pulled any of the scammers that I have reported-in fact, the most they have ever done is suggest that I block those posts.
Have any of you ever gotten a fraudulent business pulled from Facebook?
No, but I did get sucked in to one and purchased some cheap Birkenstocks a few years ago. Instead of Birks, was sent a very crappy pair of plastic sunnies. My Visa card was reimbursed thankfully.
Yet everyday I see new sites pop up flogging the same or similar. I’ve learned my lesson and now do a thorough check to see how long the site has existed and whether it’s legit.
Facebook would only care about scammers on Facebook and act to remove them if there was a risk that it would have a significant impact on their bottom line – in other words, if enough people stopped using Facebook because of them. That’s why they’re giving you the alternative of blocking the ads.
In other words, not enough people stop using Facebook due to scam advertisers to make Facebook care about them. Facebook does not care about any one of their users losing money to these advertisers, because they are still taking their cut. Facebook has no soul and no heart, it is strictly and only about money (which they get by peddling your information, so it’s a good idea to give them as little of that as possible).
I still use Facebook. They have as little information about me as it is possible for me to supply and still use the application. It’s still too much, but I’m not ready to cut the cord.
I reported a whole bunch of very obvious tech scam stores on Facebook (like the ones advertising a pocket sized i7 gaming laptop for $30, or the ones using stolen footage of an expensive Samsung smart watch, again at an absurdly low price around $30, then supplying some very cheap knockoff).
- Most of the time (like 70% of all of my reports), Facebook did nothing at all - the ad stayed up
- About a quarter of the time, Facebook replied to say (words to the effect) “OK, nothing is wrong with this, but because we care, we’ll just stop showing you this scam ad”
- Less than 5% of the time, Facebook acted on the report and took the ad down
Facebook doesn’t care, because you are not the customer - you are the product. Your attention is being sold to advertisers (including a lot of scammers) who pay Facebook money so their ads can be put under your gaze.