It’s shocking that social media companies are allowed to accept payments from criminals to run bogus advertisements on their channels to defraud the Irish public, according to Social Democrats finance spokesperson Cian O’Callaghan.
Deputy O’Callaghan said:
“FraudSmart, the fraud awareness initiative led by the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland, has reported that there has been a recent surge in AI-generated online adverts promoting bogus state-backed investment schemes.
“According to An Garda Síochána, investment fraud rose by over 20% last year, with losses exceeding €20 million. AI has empowered these scams to deceive more and more of the population, especially those over the age of 50, and this trend is continuing in 2026.
“Last month, research published by the Central Bank showed that more than one in three people have been the victims of fraud, and almost two-thirds have lost money as a result. The weaponisation of AI could cause these dire figures to rise even further.
“These fake investment schemes are being advertised on social media platforms. The criminals behind them are paying to have their scams advertised on social media to vulnerable individuals.
“Social media giants should not be allowed to make money from hosting fraudulent ads. Research carried out by Revolut in February found that social media companies earned an estimated €32 million last year from scam advertisements targeted at Irish people.
“Social media companies are profiting off people’s misery and the Government is doing nothing to stop it.
“In 2024, Department of Finance officials proposed that tech companies would have to vet those who can post financial investment ads. This is a no-brainer proposal that should be in place already but has seen zero action from this Government.
“I’m reiterating my call for Minister for Finance Simon Harris to explain why he has failed to act on the proposals put forward by his department in relation to scams and fraud.”
May 28th, 2026