Meta continues to allow scammers to use its platform to run Facebook scam ads targeting Malaysians. Recently, there’s been a surge of scam ads promoting a Philips LatteGo 4300 coffee machine for RM9.00. The ads are created by various Facebook pages claiming to run warehouse sales and they are misusing the Philips brand.
The Philips LatteGo 4300 coffee machine retails for RM4,099, however, these fake pages claim to offer it for only RM9 “while stocks last”. The ads typically lead to a different website which asks you to complete a survey.
To make the offer look more legit, they have planted fake conversations in the post to “prove” that the discount is real and some customers have received the advertised coffee machine in good order. If you check the page’s transparency information, these pages are managed by users in other countries. In this instance, the admins of the page are from Ukraine.
If you see a deal that’s too good to be true, it probably is. You should not click on the link or provide your personal details, as it can be misused for scams and phishing activities. This isn’t the first time Facebook allowed fake pages to misrepresent brands on its platform. Previously we’ve reported Facebook scam ads claiming to offer Xiaomi’s Mi Electric Scooters for only RM8.50 as well as “free” books.
Facebook scam ads are a serious issue that the Ministry of Communications and Digital are looking into. Minister Fahmi Fadzil says the situation is getting out of hand and urged the MCMC to take faster and tougher action. However, the MCMC says the power to act on social media scams is limited as current policies are ineffective to act on providers hosted outside of Malaysia. Fahmi said the commission and his ministry will be studying and assessing the best mechanism to tackle scam ads on social media.
Related reading
- MCMC: Power to act on social media scams limited as current policies are ineffective
- Facebook allows scam ads claiming to offer Teh Hong Piow’s book for free
- Fahmi Fadzil: MCMC, KKD studying and assessing best mechanisms to tackle scam ads on social media
- Social Media scams getting out of hand, Fahmi Fadzil calls on MCMC to take faster, tougher action
