This report is part of the NetLab UFRJ efforts in identifying and analyzing fraudulent advertisements on social media platforms. We have developed methods to comprehend the scale, dynamics, and content of these advertisements.
We consider fraudulent advertisements as paid and boosted content that appropriates social engineering techniques to sell false solutions and information, intentionally seeking illegal income and causing material and moral harm to others (Button et al., 2014; Kikerpill & Siibak, 2022; Kotila et al., 2016).
In this study, we follow up on a report published on July 25, 2023, in which we analyze the dissemination of advertisements taking advantage of the initiation of the Desenrola Brasil program to carry out scams on Meta platforms.
The day after its publication, the National Consumer Secretariat of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security (Senacon/MJSP) determined that digital platforms should take down all fraudulent advertisements related to the program, under penalty of daily fines for non-compliance with the decision.
On the same date, Meta announced that it would be removing "misleading advertisements about the program [...] as soon as identified." However, despite the precautionary measure and the apparent proactivity of the platform, our results indicate the persistence of fraudulent advertisements involving the program on its platforms between July and September.