Meta not doing nearly enough to combat online shopping scams, Dutch authorities say
Meta is not doing nearly enough against online shopping scams, the Dutch police said, warning consumers to be very wary of great offers on Facebook and Instagram. Scammers are advertising hundreds of fake online stores on those two platforms, often appearing as high discounts on products from well-known stores, the police told NOS.
“Anyone who orders something from this website will receive nothing,” said Gijs van der Linden, team leader of the police’s National Internet Fraud Reporting Center. “Scammers also advertise via Google, Snapchat, and TikTok, but we see the vast majority on Meta’s platforms.”
Since June 2025, the police have designated 535 websites as criminal online stores. Over half of these, 273, were advertised on Facebook and Instagram.
“Be very careful of high discounts,” said Van der Linde, who has been working against fake online stores at the police for over a decade. He previously gave a similar warning on behalf of Dutch banks. “If you do click on the link, check if you are really on the website of the store where you want to buy things.”
NOS spoke to an Amsterdam woman who fell for such a scam. Two months ago, she saw an advertisement on Facebook for the outdoor sports store Bever. “I enjoy hiking. Outdoor clothing and gear are quite expensive. So when I saw an ad for an 80 percent discount, I clicked on it.”
She ended up on a website that looked like Bever’s online store, with all kinds of gear being offered at high discounts. She picked out some items. “There was a big discount on it, so it didn’t cost much: €85.” But when no confirmation email arrived, she started to have doubts. When she checked her bank account, it turned out the money had been transferred to an unknown bank account in another country. “That’s when I knew: this money is gone and I won’t get it back.”
She feels embarrassed that she fell for this type of scam. “Because normally, I am the one who warns my children and my father: don’t just click on anything! Now I did it myself,” she told NOS. But she came forward anyway. “It is better not to keep it to yourself. I think this happens to a lot of people.”
NOS looked into the fake Bever site and found at least 25 different advertisements on Facebook and Instagram between March 13 and 22. The ads appeared tens of thousands of times in that period.
NOS asked Meta about fake online store ads and why it couldn’t manage to prevent them. Meta did not answer those questions, only saying that people should report ads they find suspicious.
By then, it’s too late, police officer Van der Linden said. “We see those ads, but Meta sees them too,” he told NOS. “If a lot of people see such an ad, there is always someone who will click on it.”
