More than half of UK adults have come across potentially fraudulent ads online, with over a third seeing them often, according to Ofcom. Now the regulator has published draft measures that would force platforms like YouTube, Instagram and TikTok to take action against scam adverts — or face fines of up to £18m or 10% of global turnover, whichever is greater.
“For too long, victims have been exposed to scam ads online with tech giants simply not doing enough to combat the fraudsters using their platforms,” said Ofcom online safety director Oliver Griffiths. “We expect firms to take robust action to stamp out scam ads and boot out the bad actors behind them to safeguard their users.”
“Ofcom proposes mandatory action against scam ads, with fines up to £18m or 10% of global turnover.”
The proposals, published on Friday, target content that advertises products or services in a misleading or deceptive way. Under the draft measures, tech firms would be required to ban those who post scams, prevent them from creating new accounts, and block those who impersonate real businesses. “Platforms should not drag their heels – they can start making improvements for their users now,” Griffiths added. “And sites and apps that fail to meet their legal duties, once in force, can expect to face serious consequences.”
The crackdown comes after a series of high-profile incidents. On Friday, the UK’s advertising watchdog warned that claims in adverts for portable air conditioning units on Facebook and YouTube were “too good to be true”. In early June, concerns were raised over ads on X containing fake AI-generated images of Reform leader Nigel Farage fighting Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey.
Ofcom’s powers to act are tied to the Online Safety Act (OSA), which imposes additional transparency and accountability requirements on categorised services. The regulator has now published its register of categorised services, including Category 1 platforms that face the toughest duties due to their size and popularity. These are Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Quora, Reddit, Roblox, Snapchat, TikTok, WhatsApp, X and YouTube. Categorised services must have systems in place to prevent users from encountering fraudulent ads, swiftly remove reported content, and minimise how long scam ads remain live.
Failure to comply with the new duties, once in force, could cost firms dearly — but the measures are still draft. The question now is how quickly the industry will act before the rules become law.