Investment fraud on social media is spiralling out of control, with a new report suggesting that virtually every finance-related ad seen on Facebook and Twitter (now X) is either high-risk or a scam. According to research from BrokerChooser, 100% of financial ads reviewed in South Africa were flagged as deceptive—marking a dangerous turning point in online financial crime.
The report analysed over 5,000 active finance ads in Meta’s ad library across 13 countries and found that many promoted unrealistic returns, unregulated trading platforms, or directed users to messaging apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, or Instagram to avoid detection. While so...