Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday is leading a bipartisan coalition of 42 Attorneys General calling on Meta Platforms, Inc. to take stronger action against scam investment ads proliferating on its platforms, including Facebook and WhatsApp.

The letter to Meta urges the company to improve its ad review processes, citing a disturbing rise in fraudulent investment promotions that exploit the images of trusted financial figures like Warren Buffett to lure users into WhatsApp “investment groups.”

These groups often operate illegal “pump-and-dump” scams that result in devastating financial losses for unsuspecting victims.

“These ‘pump-and-dump’ scams are outright illegal investment fraud,” Sunday said. “Meta should take responsibility for predatory advertising on their platform.”

Once users join these groups, scammers urge them to buy specific stocks under false pretenses, inflate the stock value (“pump”), and then sell off their own shares (“dump”), leaving victims with near-worthless investments.

Some individuals have lost entire life savings through these schemes.

Despite Meta’s reliance on automated ad screening and limited human moderation, bad actors continue to evade detection by altering their tactics and ads.

The coalition demands Meta:

   •Implement more robust human review of investment-related ads

   •Require enhanced diligence from advertisers

   •Consider halting investment advertisements entirely if it cannot effectively prevent fraud

The Attorneys General stress that Meta must better protect users from scams that are eroding public trust and causing real financial harm.

For more information or to report a suspected scam, visit www.attorneygeneral.gov.