Celeb-bait ads make Meta turn to facial recognition tech to combat scams

Global launch to help with faster account recovery

- SHIVANI SHINDE

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, will utilise facial recognition technology (FRT) to combat scams.

The company is introducing this feature amid an increase in celebrity-bait ads, helping users recover accounts more quickly. This is a global launch.

Recently, celebrity-bait scams have increasingly been used to lure people into engaging with ads that lead to scam websites, where they are asked to share personal information or send money.

Meta is rolling out FRT to celebrities impacted by scams, with plans for a gradual rollout to others in the coming weeks. “We are testing the use of FRT to help protect our users from scams and to enable faster account recovery, while also keeping bad actors out of people's accounts. With privacy and transparency in place, FRT can be a powerful tool to help protect people online, including on our apps,” said David Agranovich, director of security policy at Meta, during a select briefing over video call.