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ÖIAT / Watchlist Internet

Monitoring online fraud, scam ads and consumer deception in the German-speaking EU; the Austrian Institute for Applied Telecommunications (ÖIAT) runs Watchlist Internet and conducts empirical studies of platform advertising, often for Austrian regulators.

Type: Nonprofit consumer-protection watchdog
Based in: Vienna, Austria
Focus region: Austria / EU

Visit Watchlist Internet

Investigation: 1
Platform tracked: 1
Active since: 2026
Latest report: Jun 2026

Topics covered

Ad Transparency & Fraud1
Platform Compliance & Governance1

Researchers

Current

Lena Müller-NaendrupResearcher1
Natalie TrellResearcher1
Valentine AuerProject Lead, ÖIAT Research1

Reports

2026

1 report

Jun 2026
Meta
Analysis of the Fraud Ecosystem of Online Advertising on Meta Platforms
The ÖIAT analyzed Meta's Ad Library over three months and found 634,000+ fraudulent or problematic ads shown more than 1 billion times across the EU (123M in Austria). Illegal gambling (~450,000 ads), investment fraud (83,216) and dubious food supplements (27,171) dominated the sample.
Ad Transparency & FraudPlatform Compliance & GovernanceArt. 39 — Ad transparencyArt. 26 — Ad labelling
By Valentine Auer, Lena Müller-Naendrup and Natalie Trell