TPA calls on Government to take action over Meta's role in fraud crisis

Based on interviews with major financial institutions including Barclays, Revolut, Nationwide and Santander UK, the white paper, entitled The New Origin of APP Fraud, highlights growing concern across the sector that banks are being forced to bear the cost of fraud originating on major digital platforms.

The report highlights a critical disconnect in the current UK regulatory framework. While the banking and payments sectors have been subject to mandatory reimbursement rules since late 2024, the digital platforms where scams actually originate face no equivalent enforceable financial liability regime.

It shows that a majority of APP fraud begins long before a transaction is initiated, often starting with fraudulent advertisements on Facebook or Instagram, and often migrating into private messaging channels such as WhatsApp and Telegram. The research highlights that in the first half of 2025 alone, over £250 million was lost to APP fraud in the UK, with around two-thirds of reported cases originating on online platforms.

In November, Meta estimated that ten percent of its 2024 revenue could come from ads and scammed goods, according to internal documents seen by Reuters. The documents indicate that the social media platform serves up to 15 billion scam ads a day, earning the firm $16 billion in sales…

The association has called on the government and regulators to prioritise the enforcement of standards for social media giants to stem the tide of financial crime, as the report highlights that such platforms are a primary gateway for scammers to perpetrate authorised push payment (APP) fraud.

Riccardo Tordera, vice president of policy and government relations at The Payments Association, said: “For too long, the polluter has not been the one paying. While banks are working tirelessly to reimburse victims and detect suspicious transfers, they are essentially trying to catch water at the bottom of a waterfall while the source remains wide open.”

“As Meta’s ecosystems have become a primary engine for scam exposure, we are calling on the government to move beyond voluntary pledges and toward mandatory, enforceable standards for digital platforms to protect consumers from APP’s point of origin.”

The whitepaper outlines a framework for shared liability that includes mandatory identity verification for advertisers and the implementation of defined response timelines for removing fraudulent content. The Payments Association is also advocating for the introduction of financial repercussions for platforms that repeatedly fail to prevent scam exposure, alongside a requirement for real-time intelligence sharing between tech firms and the payments industry.