Scambook: How Meta helps Medicare scammers target seniors

CCDH reviewed more than 90,000 advertisements drawn from Meta's public Ad Library to assess the prevalence and reach of deceptive Medicare-related ad campaigns, including some using deepfake technology, targeting older adults on Facebook and Instagram.

The analysis found that Medicare scam ads generated about 215 million impressions over the preceding year — nearly six times the combined total of all prior years — and that Meta earned an estimated $14.3 million in advertising revenue from these campaigns. Seniors aged 65 and older accounted for 73% of impressions, with Texas and Florida singled out as the most heavily targeted states given their large Medicare-eligible populations. The report also found that Meta's ad-removal process lagged: by the time flagged ads were taken down, they had already accumulated about 72 million impressions and $3.7 million in revenue.

The report situates these findings against a backdrop of nearly 68 million Americans enrolled in Medicare and over $2 billion in reported social-media scam losses in 2025, and calls for Section 230 reform and state-level legislation targeting deceptive advertising and platform design.