Facebook owner Meta accused of letting AI sellers ‘run rampant’

Facebook owner Meta has been accused of allowing misleading companies to “run rampant” on its platforms, as dozens of people say they have fallen victim to sellers using AI-generated adverts.

More than 60 people contacted the BBC after we revealed unscrupulous foreign firms were using fake images and back stories to pose as family-run UK businesses to lure in shoppers.

Some said they had been targeted by ads on Facebook and Instagram, and consumer guide Which? said businesses were using the platforms to “spread their lies furthest and widest”.

Meta said it had removed content by six companies, flagged by the BBC, which claimed to be based in England but were shipping cheap goods in from Asia.

The tech giant said it did not allow fraudulent activity and worked closely with Stop Scams UK to protect users.

One company removed from the platform is C’est La Vie, which claimed to be a longstanding jewellery retailer run by Patrick and Eileen in Birmingham but had a returns address in China.

Mabel & Daisy, which used AI generated pictures of a mother and daughter and claimed to sell “timeless clothing” from a shop in Bristol, has also been removed from the platform after it was exposed for selling cheap items from a base in Hong Kong.

Other companies Meta says it is taking action against are clothing firms Sylvia & Grace, Chester & Claire, Harrison & Hayes and Olyndra London, as well as accessories business Omelia & Oliver Jewels.

All have one-star reviews on Trustpilot with hundreds of customers saying they were duped into thinking they were buying from UK-based brands and received shoddy goods.

Harrison & Hayes claimed to be a Manchester-based independent clothes shop with “decades of experience” but has a returns address to a central warehouse in China. It has used an AI-image of a shop front in the city which does not exist.

Chester & Clare also uses an AI-generated image of a shopfront to market its business, which it claims has operated in London since 2005 but is actually based in the Netherlands and sells clothes shipped from China.

Its terms of service states imagery, stories, characters and boutique locations “may have been created using generate AI” to “enhance customer experience”.

The BBC contacted all businesses but only got automated responses.

Claire Brown was persuaded to buy two dresses for £73 from Luxe and Luna London, after “constantly” seeing the company’s appealing adverts on Facebook.

When the dresses arrived weeks later they were poorly made of flimsy material and “looked awful”.

“It felt like a trusted brand after I’d seen it on Facebook so much, you see all these clothing collections and I liked what I saw,” she said.

Ms Brown, who works in tech marketing, said she reported the company to Meta but never got a response.

The company has now stopped operating, with a message on Facebook stating life had “taken a devastating turn” because of the death of a partner, an almost identical statement used by fake Birmingham jewellery business C’est La Vie.

“It makes me feel really cross, because I hate people being scammed and the websites are the kind of thing you would share with a friend,” Claire added.

“There is a real lack of protection here for consumers.”

Another Facebook user, Stuart, said he had reported a number of suspicious companies to the platform but was advised to “influence the ads that you see by hiding ads and changing your ad preferences” in its response. No other action was taken.

Some of the fraudulent companies discovered by the BBC appear to be controversial “dropshipping” schemes.

That’s where a third-party buys products from a wholesaler and sells them with a significant mark-up, having never seen the product themselves.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) recently banned ads by a so-called “British” clothing firm that used images of roses, cobbled streets and the union jack when it was shipping goods from a warehouse in Asia.

The regulator said it was continuing to take action on misleading adverts but said platforms like Facebook played an “important role” in maintaining “responsible advertising” and continued to engage with them on how best to prevent those that break the rules.

Which? said Meta had allowed fake companies to “run rampant on its platforms for too long” and said it should be doing “much more” to stop scams and protect its users.

Meta said it wanted users to report suspicious adverts on its platforms, which was an “important signal” to its review systems and could prompt a re-review of the advert while improving policies.

• Which? recommends being wary of adverts on social media that promote “too good to be true” offers and applied pressure tactics like a closing down sale with heavy discounts
• It says you should be suspicious if you spot an account that was created recently claiming to be a well-known company, especially if they only have a few followers
• The guide also suggests reaching out to companies to see if adverts are genuine by searching for the company’s legitimate website instead of clicking on links in a possible scam
• Many companies claim to have thousands of positive reviews – but consumer website Trustpilot is often the best place to check for legitimate experiences of fashion brands
• Experts who have verified some of the AI images used by the companies say to watch out for those that look too perfect – from the subject’s hair, to their skin and teeth. And for those with pictures of fabricated shop fronts, a quick Google can usually help discover whether they have an actual address and presence on a UK high street.