Facebook has launched a tool, exclusive for users in the UK, that allows them to send detailed scam reports of ads they suspect of being scams.
Following a defamation lawsuit filed last year by Martin Lewis – a UK-based consumer advice personality – Facebook has agreed to add a new scam ad reporting feature, to allow users to report ads they think are scams. Facebook also agreed to donate £3 million to set up the so-called Citizens Advice Scams Action (CASA) to provide one-to-one support to people who have been scammed as a result of online ads.
Lewis announced he would withdraw his lawsuit following Facebook’s response. The new scam ad reporting tool is currently only available in the UK. However, Facebook is not ruling out that it may launch it elsewhere as well.
Facebook users in the UK can flag ads that they believe are scams or misleading, simply by clicking or tapping the three dots menu on the top right of every ad on the platform. From there, they click or tap on ‘Report ad’, then choose ‘Misleading or scam ad,’ and finally ‘Send a detailed scam report’.
A specially trained internal operations team at Facebook will then be notified to handle the report, and review and take down the offending ads if necessary.
UK residents can contact Citizens Advice Scams Action by calling 0300 330 3003 for one-on-one help, or by accessing the Scams Action website. A web chat is also available on the website but may be down at the moment due to a considerable influx of users.
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