Cuban: Facebook knowingly runs AI deepfake scam ads; docs say $16B fraud revenue

Mark Cuban says Meta knowingly allows AI-generated advertisements that impersonate him to promote bogus health products, including a supposed $294 diabetes cure. He says victims contact him believing he sold the treatment, and argues that disclaimers identifying a video as AI-generated do little once viewers have been persuaded. Cuban, who co-founded the low-cost online pharmacy Cost Plus Drugs, frames the ads as evidence of what Meta’s management is willing to tolerate. The dispute is set against internal company documents reported by Reuters: Meta estimated scam and prohibited-product ads could generate about $16 billion, roughly 10% of its 2024 revenue. The records also described 15 billion higher-risk ads shown daily and said Meta’s systems required 95% confidence that an advertiser was fraudulent before banning it. Meta disputed the figures as misleading, citing a decline in user complaints and the removal of more than 134 million scam ads in 2025.

The account emphasizes the harm to older people, who reported $7.7 billion in losses to the FBI in 2025, including $3.5 billion from investment schemes. More than 3,100 complaints involved AI, with reported losses exceeding $352 million. It advises treating celebrity endorsements on social media as suspect, checking product claims independently, warning relatives, and reporting suspected fraud to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. It also notes that Meta’s safety teams estimated its platforms contributed to a third of successful U.S. scams, while the Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating advertising linked to financial fraud.