Meta to combat celeb-bait scams by using facial recongnition

Meta is testing the use of facial recognition technology to help protect people from celeb-bait ads and enable faster account recovery. Scammers often try to use images of public figures, such as content creators or celebrities, to bait people into engaging with ads that lead to scam websites, where they are asked to share personal information or send money. This scheme, commonly called “celeb-bait,” violates our policies and harms the people who use these products.

The company is introducing this feature amid an increase in celebrity-bait ads, helping users recover accounts more quickly. This is a global launch.

"We’re testing a new way of detecting celeb-bait scams. If our systems suspect that an ad may be a scam that contains the image of a public figure at risk for celeb-bait, we will try to use facial recognition technology to compare faces in the ad to the public figure’s Facebook and Instagram profile pictures. If we confirm a match and determine the ad is a scam, we’ll block it. We immediately delete any facial data generated from ads for this one-time comparison, regardless of whether our system finds a match, and we don’t use it for any other purpose."

In the coming weeks, Meta will start showing in-app notifications to a larger group of public figures who’ve been impacted by celeb-bait letting them know we’re enrolling them in this protection. Public figures enrolled in this protection can opt-out in their Accounts Center anytime.

The company is also testing ways for people to recover their accounts faster incase they forget their passwords. "We’re now testing video selfies as a means for people to verify their identity and regain access to compromised accounts. The user will upload a video selfie and we’ll use facial recognition technology to compare the selfie to the profile pictures on the account they’re trying to access. This is similar to identity verification tools you might already use to unlock your phone or access other apps," the company adds.