Attorney General Bonta Warns Californians of Investment Scams on Facebook, Instagram …

If an investment seems too good to be true, it probably is   OAKLAND — Attorney General Rob Bonta today issued an alert warning Californians about the prevalence of fraudulent investment scams across Meta platforms, including on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, as well as on other online platforms. Scammers are increasingly using deceptive advertisements (ads) and deepfake technology to lure people into high-stakes scams in order to then defraud them of their savings. Last year, Attorney General Bonta sent a letter to Meta urging the company to adopt protocols to properly tackle this pervasive issue — or otherwise ban all investment ads on its platforms. Attorney General Bonta encourages anyone who may have been a victim of these types of scams to report it to oag.ca.gov/report. “Californians, we’ve seen an uptick in investment scams across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. These scams have cost some people their life savings and typically use photos of well-known or trusted people without their permission in order to create the necessary trust to get into consumers’ pockets,” said Attorney General Bonta. “I encourage Californians to learn about common scams and review tips to protect themselves, and I urge investors to scrutinize social media investment ads before investing.” COMMON SOCIAL MEDIA INVESTMENT SCAMS The Pump and
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