# When it comes to fraud, does Facebook even care any more?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-it-comes-to-fraud-does-facebook-even-care-any-more/981415
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [March 20, 2023, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-it-comes-to-fraud-does-facebook-even-care-any-more/981415 "2023-03-20T20:14:19Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2023, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-it-comes-to-fraud-does-facebook-even-care-any-more/981415/1 "2023-03-20T20:14:19Z")
From already overpriced “silver” bars and coins that are actually silver plated iron, to ridiculously underpriced items with picture snuck from a Walmart where they put up a homemade “SALE $189!!” sign in front of a 65 inch 4K television, to stock pictures stolen from other sites (sometimes over and over again) etc., I have complained to Facebook, and they respond (if they respond at all) with a notice saying that I have the option to block that particular ad from appearing…which just means that I will see the same damn ad when they change their name a couple weeks later. Have any y’all ever reported fraud on Facebook and had them actually remove the ad and/or ban the company?
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### Author:  [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2023, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-it-comes-to-fraud-does-facebook-even-care-any-more/981415/2 "2023-03-20T20:20:55Z")
Has FB ever cared about anything other than the short term bottom line? And they never will.
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### Author:  [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2023, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-it-comes-to-fraud-does-facebook-even-care-any-more/981415/3 "2023-03-20T20:26:25Z")
I didn’t realize you meant ads, I thought you were just talking about random posts.
If you’re on a PC, FBPurity works _really_ well to get rid of the ads.
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2023, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-it-comes-to-fraud-does-facebook-even-care-any-more/981415/4 "2023-03-20T20:37:22Z")
Got it, installed it-Thank you.
Still not happy about their (non)policy, though.
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### Author:  [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2023, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-it-comes-to-fraud-does-facebook-even-care-any-more/981415/5 "2023-03-20T21:03:10Z")
I’ve had fake profiles using my name, and I’ve had friends with fake profiles using their names and pictures. The FB response is that two people may have the same name, but name _and_ image is grounds for them to take action. Nevertheless, one of those fake profiles with photos has been up for four years despite being reported again and again.
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2023, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-it-comes-to-fraud-does-facebook-even-care-any-more/981415/6 "2023-03-21T02:02:10Z")
Has anyone had a positive result from reporting a fraudulent advert on Facebook?
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### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2023, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-it-comes-to-fraud-does-facebook-even-care-any-more/981415/7 "2023-03-21T02:27:32Z")
Never knew there were people who actually got responses when they contacted Facebook.
Amazon and eBay are no better when it comes to acknowledging and doing something about fraud.
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### Author:  [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2023, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-it-comes-to-fraud-does-facebook-even-care-any-more/981415/8 "2023-03-21T02:29:50Z")
Yeah Amazon’s entire business model now seems to try to get you to buy stuff 3rd party vendors are drop shipping from Wish or Alibaba, which is why when I’m looking for a portable DVD player I get 40 items that are literally the exact same photos but each product claims a different brand.
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### Author:  [@Apodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apodder)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2023, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-it-comes-to-fraud-does-facebook-even-care-any-more/981415/9 "2023-03-21T02:39:14Z")
Not what you were asking about, but I’ve reported those comments that are
like “hello darling, I love your posts and you’re so beautiful, I’d love to be your friend” but FB always says they don’t violate the rules, or some such.
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### Author:  [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2023, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-it-comes-to-fraud-does-facebook-even-care-any-more/981415/10 "2023-03-21T02:44:44Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> Has anyone had a positive result from reporting a fraudulent advert on Facebook
Yes, I have. Any ad I see making fraudulent claims, usually around supplements, or scam medical treatments, I report. I’ve had at least once where I got a message back after a week or more saying the ad “violated terms” or something and was removed.
I briefly looked through some of my stuff on Facebook, but can’t find where they sent me the message about the reported ad.
I only ever browse Facebook with an ad blocker, so I rarely see ads, but in the cat mouse game of ads and ad blockers there will occasionally be a day or two that I see ads. I always block whatever company is advertising, and report any ad that I believe is making fraudulent claims. Like I said, it always seems to be supplements. So “this supplement will make you feel great!” Whatever, block, but just opinion and a waste of money. “This supplement will cure the following 15 chronic conditions…” definitely reported as fraud.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2023, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-it-comes-to-fraud-does-facebook-even-care-any-more/981415/11 "2023-03-21T13:47:03Z")
I spend less and less time on Facebook. They send me friend suggestions, and they used to make sense. The suggested person would be a friend of a friend. But lately they have been sending friend suggestions that are obvious not legitimate. Women posing in revealing outfits. Seriously, Facebook?
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2023, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-it-comes-to-fraud-does-facebook-even-care-any-more/981415/12 "2023-03-21T14:09:42Z")
> [@kayaker](#):
>
> But lately they have been sending friend suggestions that are obvious not legitimate. Women posing in revealing outfits. Seriously, Facebook? -
You mean you’re _not_ a filthy pig of a male?
😉
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### Author:  [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2023, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-it-comes-to-fraud-does-facebook-even-care-any-more/981415/13 "2023-03-21T14:20:03Z")
The fraud stuff doesn’t bother me too much, after all, no matter what anti-fraud measures you put in place, eventually the con artists will find a work-around.
What really annoys me are all the Facebook-generated “suggested pages” that I “might like”. No, Facebook, I’m not going to join “Random Star Wars Memes Fanpage #31415” after I’ve turned down the previous 31414 suggestions.
And some days, these posts are so frequent, they’re almost every other post!
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### Author:  [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2023, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-it-comes-to-fraud-does-facebook-even-care-any-more/981415/14 "2023-03-21T14:25:36Z")
I have flagged photos with explicit sexual nudity and I always get back “This content doesn’t blah blah blah”. They definitely have stopped caring. I don’t think anybody even looks anymore. I think it is just a bot that sends back and not taking it down message.
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### Author:  [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2023, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-it-comes-to-fraud-does-facebook-even-care-any-more/981415/15 "2023-03-21T15:00:59Z")
> [@Horatius](#):
>
> And some days, these posts are so frequent, they’re almost every other post!
If you’re on a PC, install the FBPurity extension. You can make all that go away.
You almost forget how well it’s working until facebook updates something and all that junk takes over your feed for a day or two until they update and push a new version off the extension.
A pi-hole does an okay job of keeping the facebook ads off your phone and/or other devices as well (when you’re connected to your own network).
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### Author:  [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2023, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-it-comes-to-fraud-does-facebook-even-care-any-more/981415/16 "2023-03-21T15:19:44Z")
Can you still use FB purity if you use a tablet?
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### Author:  [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2023, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-it-comes-to-fraud-does-facebook-even-care-any-more/981415/17 "2023-03-21T15:56:30Z")
Maybe if you’re on facebook via a browser on the tablet (but even then, I don’t know for sure), but with an app, no. It’s just a browser extension.
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2023, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-it-comes-to-fraud-does-facebook-even-care-any-more/981415/18 "2023-03-21T16:09:11Z")
There used to be laws to the effect that if an online platform considered themselves responsible for moderating their platform, they had to do it really well, and take responsibility for any instances where they failed to do it very well; the alternative was apparently to declare the whole thing unmoderated, and take little to no responsibilty. I believe those laws have passed into history now, but Facebook seems to still be going with the Wild West option.
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### Author:  [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2023, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-it-comes-to-fraud-does-facebook-even-care-any-more/981415/19 "2023-03-21T16:37:03Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> Have any y’all ever reported fraud on Facebook and had them actually remove the ad and/or ban the company?
I’ve tried a handful of times with zero success. The most recent was 5 days ago, and it wasn’t for products or advertising, it was for child pornography! I’m pretty sure it was posted from the middle east, but I can’t swear to it. It featured a child that looked to be around 12 years old. She was wearing a skirt and was squatting with her legs slightly apart. She was wearing no panties, and you could make out her vagina.
No response yet from Facebook.I’m rather upset about that.
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### Author:  [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2023, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-it-comes-to-fraud-does-facebook-even-care-any-more/981415/20 "2023-03-21T16:51:22Z")
> [@Mangetout](#):
>
> I believe those laws have passed into history now
47 U.S.C. § 230 declares that an online forum provider (like Facebook) isn’t responsible for what their users publish, with clear exceptions for stuff like child porn.
> **[47 U.S. Code § 230 - Protection for private blocking and screening of...](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/47/230)**
> [@](#):
>
> (1) Treatment of publisher or speaker
>
> No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.
What Section 230 **doesn’t** make exceptions for:
> [@](#):
>
> (e) Effect on other laws
> (1) No effect on criminal law
>
> Nothing in this section shall be construed to impair the enforcement of section 223 or 231 of this title, chapter 71 (relating to obscenity) or 110 (relating to sexual exploitation of children) of title 18, or any other Federal criminal statute.
> (2) No effect on intellectual property law
>
> Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit or expand any law pertaining to intellectual property.
> (3) State law
>
> Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent any State from enforcing any State law that is consistent with this section. No cause of action may be brought and no liability may be imposed under any State or local law that is inconsistent with this section.
> (4) No effect on communications privacy law
>
> Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the application of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 or any of the amendments made by such Act, or any similar State law.
> (5) No effect on sex trafficking lawNothing in this section (other than subsection (c)(2)(A)) shall be construed to impair or limit—
> (A) any claim in a civil action brought under section 1595 of title 18, if the conduct underlying the claim constitutes a violation of section 1591 of that title;
> (B) any charge in a criminal prosecution brought under State law if the conduct underlying the charge would constitute a violation of section 1591 of title 18; or
> (C) any charge in a criminal prosecution brought under State law if the conduct underlying the charge would constitute a violation of section 2421A of title 18, and promotion or facilitation of prostitution is illegal in the jurisdiction where the defendant’s promotion or facilitation of prostitution was targeted.
ETA: obviously, this is US law and has no bearing on most of the world. Other nations’ laws afford different degrees of protection and impose varying amounts of obligation on online publishers.
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