Report says Medicare scam ads reached seniors 215 million times on Meta

A new report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate says Medicare scam ads on Meta platforms reached older Americans on a large scale. The group analyzed more than 90,000 ads and identified the top 30 Medicare scammers by ad spend. Those advertisers ran 42,984 ads in the review.

The report says Medicare scammers received 215 million impressions from March 12, 2025, through March 11, 2026. That figure is nearly six times the total from all previous years combined. The group estimates Meta collected $14.3 million from these advertisers, with $12.4 million coming during the one-year period.

According to the report, 73 percent of impressions from the top Medicare scammers came from people over age 65. Seniors over 65 viewed the ads an estimated 185 million times. Users ages 55 to 64 accounted for about 50 million impressions. The most targeted states were Texas, Florida, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

The ads promised benefits such as $3,600 for groceries, rent or gas. Some used government-style branding, fake endorsements from politicians or celebrities, and AI-generated images. Others created pressure with claims that enrollment would close that night or that funds were limited.

Meta disputes the report's conclusions. A company spokesperson said scammers use increasingly sophisticated tactics and that Meta removed more than 159 million scam ads last year, with 92 percent taken down before anyone reported them. The company also said it launched new tools and partnered with law enforcement to disrupt criminal activity.

CCDH says Meta approved ads that appeared to violate its own policies and sometimes removed one ad while allowing similar content to continue running. In one example, researchers found 86 ads with identical content. Meta rejected 48 of them and allowed 38 to run. The group says removed ads accumulated 72 million impressions before they were taken down.

CCDH CEO Imran Ahmed said the report shows Meta is giving scammers access to a powerful advertising system. He said the company is providing a platform that helps scammers identify and reach potential victims.

The report says users who clicked the ads were sometimes asked for personal information or pushed to change Medicare plans. CCDH defined Medicare scams as ads that promoted supposed extra benefits while using deceptive tactics such as misleading claims, false government branding and fabricated deadlines.