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Abdul Mannan, a public transport worker from Narayanganj on the outskirts of Dhaka, thought he had found a way to supplement his income. After seeing a Facebook ad, he registered on a website and deposited Tk 1,000, lured by a lucrative promise: watch a few online ads each day and earn Tk 600 in return. He followed all the instructions, but no payment ever came. His deposit was gone, and the platform stopped responding to his messages.

Mannan is not alone. Dozens of websites claiming to offer daily income in exchange for simple tasks—like viewing ads—are operating across Bangladesh, promoted aggressively through Facebook ads. These platforms ask users to register and pay upfront, often under package names like “Silver” or “Platinum,” promising daily returns. In reality, they pay back nothing.

A two-day review of Meta’s Ad Library by Dismislab revealed that at least 31 Facebook pages were running paid advertisements promoting such scam websites. The ads featured Bangla-language phrases such as “অ্যাড দেখে ইনকাম করুন” (“earn by watching ads”) and “ইনকাম ওয়েবসাইট” (“income website”), targeting users looking for remote work or quick income.

The investigation found that these pages and websites operate in cycles: some disappear, others appear. While some pages were taken down after running ads, new ones emerged promoting the same or similar schemes, often within days.

Scam ads violate Meta’s core policies
The scam campaigns uncovered in this investigation violate at least two of Meta’s stated advertising policies: one on authentic identity and another on fraud and deceptive practices.

First, several Facebook pages used names and stolen video clips from well-known YouTubers such as Shohag Khandokar and AFR Technology, falsely implying their endorsement. This violates Meta’s Authentic Identity representation policy, which prohibits the use of someone else’s name, image, or likeness to mislead others.

Second, the core structure of the scheme—promising online income in exchange for an upfront deposit—breaches Meta’s Fraud and Deceptive Practices policy. This rule explicitly forbids content that offers earnings while requiring advance fees or misleading users about financial outcomes.

Despite these violations, the ads ran for days or weeks in some cases, many without detection. Pages promoting the scams were often only removed after running multiple paid promotions. In several cases, replacement pages using similar names and identical content reappeared within days.

These are not isolated incidents. In the past, Facebook ads targeting Bangladeshi users have promoted other types of fraud, including false investment platforms and health scams. While ads related to alcohol and drugs are restricted in Bangladesh, scam operations have used such categories to bypass filters.

Globally, similar failures in Meta’s enforcement systems have been documented. In India, a user reportedly lost 1.7 million rupees to a social media income scam. In Australia, scammers used deepfake videos of celebrities in Meta ads to promote fraudulent investment schemes. In both cases, Meta was notified, but the ads continued to circulate.

Ken Gamble, a cybercrime investigator with IFW Global, described the tactic in an interview with The Age: “They’re using the honeypot method—putting up an advert on Facebook. Then a person clicks, registers their interest, and the journey of being scammed begins.”

Australian Financial Services Minister Stephen Jones added: “We want them to verify their advertisers. We want them to pull down the fake ads, and then we want a rapid response to reliable reports. They know that. They could do that today. They just choose not to.”

Methodology
This investigation was conducted by Dismislab between May 6 and May 18, 2025. Researchers used Meta’s publicly accessible Ad Library to identify Bangla-language Facebook advertisements promoting online income schemes. Searches were conducted using common scam-related phrases such as “অ্যাড দেখে ইনকাম করুন” and “ইনকাম ওয়েবসাইট.”

Over the course of two separate search days—May 6 and May 12—researchers identified 31 Facebook pages running scam advertisements. Metadata including page creation dates, ad run times, and linked websites was recorded for each. Follow-up searches revealed patterns of page disappearance and reappearance, indicating a rotating ad strategy.

The 25 websites promoted through these ads were visited and analyzed. Source code, image assets, payment instructions, and visible contact numbers were reviewed. Three websites were found to use the same phone number; others shared identical media files.

To assess the platforms’ performance claims, Dismislab registered on two websites and purchased Tk 500 packages via mobile financial services. No earnings were received, and all attempts to contact the payment numbers went unanswered.

Researchers also collected and analyzed 4,809 comments from 10 scam-related Facebook posts. Repeated comment patterns were mapped, and accounts responsible for high-frequency posts were reviewed for signs of coordinated or inauthentic activity. At least 64 accounts posting repeated positive feedback matched known indicators of fake profiles, including minimal personal content, low friend counts, and likely-stolen profile pictures.

YouTube videos used in scam ads were traced back to the original channels, verifying that they were edited and used without permission.

All findings were compared against Meta’s current advertising policies on impersonation, fraud, and advance-fee income schemes.