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A version of this opinion piece appeared in the Sunday Herald Sun 23 November, 2025

I’ve talked a lot about banks’ central role in Australia’s scams crisis. However, the main beneficiaries of the excruciating delay in implementing the Scam Prevention Framework appear to be digital platforms like Meta and Google. They’ve been handed a multi-year leave pass from taking any action to combat scams and instead are profiting wildly from victims’ misery.

Meta’s latest scandal, one that has so far gone overlooked, should shock every one of us — but we shouldn’t be surprised. Internal documents have revealed that in 2024 the company projected 10% of its global revenue would come from scams. Let’s be clear: this is a trillion-dollar corporation openly anticipating profit from nefarious criminal activity conducted on its own platforms. It also estimates that users are exposed to 15 billion scam ads every single day. And what does Meta do to these scam advertisers? It charges them a premium. That’s not negligence — that’s a business model blatantly built on harm. Allowing scammers to target, groom and rob.

Why does this matter to Australia? Because while Meta is making money from misery, everyday Australians are paying the price. Scamwatch just confirmed that 159,000 Australians reported losing more than $259.5 million to scams from January to September alone — a staggering figure driven in part by a surge in shopping scams, many of which flourish on social media. These aren’t faceless statistics; they are parents who can’t pay for food or rent, retirees who lose their life savings, young people burdened with debt and shame. We hear their stories every week, and the devastation is profound.

And what’s our national defence? A Scam Prevention Framework that exists more on paper than in practice. In early 2025 the Albanese Government promised us strong laws to stop scams at the source — rules that would force platforms like Meta to take responsibility. But where are those rules? Still delayed. Meanwhile scammers are innovating at lightning speed using AI, exploiting every gap in the system. And the gaps are huge. Banks vary wildly in their investment in scam-prevention technology. Digital platforms operating in Australia face almost no consequences for hosting and profiting from fraudulent content.

Regulators remain under-resourced. Consumers? They’re left carrying the risk and the financial and emotional catastrophe that follows.  This is in stark contrast to other countries like the UK where banks have been reimbursing scam victims for several years.

So how is it that Meta can knowingly profit from the very scams that destroy Australian lives? Because in this country — so far — there are no real consequences. No penalties that bite. No mandatory consumer-protection obligations. No political promises kept. Meta can continue writing harm off as collateral damage while it pockets the billion-dollar proceeds.

Australians deserve far better. We have a glimmer of hope in the Scam Prevention Framework that could hold these digital platforms to account. But bringing it into force requires Government action, designation of sectors and urgent consultation on rules and codes. Until then, companies like Meta will continue to profit from criminal conduct on their platforms while ordinary people are robbed, traumatised, and left to rebuild alone. It’s time to put people before profits.

ENDS

Media contact:  Mark Pearce  mark@consumeraction.org.au  Tel: 0413 299 567