Platforms should vet advertisers to stop scam ads, Ofcom proposes

Ofcom has proposed nearly 40 new rules to stop scam ads on social media and search platforms.

Nothing is decided yet. Comments close on 2 October 2026. We have published our response to the consultation, which asks Ofcom to go further.

What platforms would have to do

The rules would cover paid-for ads on the largest social media and search platforms. They would not cover ordinary posts or unpaid search results.

Under the proposals, a platform would have to:

• check that the advertiser works for the business it says it represents
• check the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) register before letting anyone advertise a financial product
• test its own AI ad-making tools and fix weaknesses a fraudster could use
• make it harder for a fraudster to take over a real business’s advertising account
• ban an advertiser that posts a scam ad and stop it opening a new advertising account
• let people report a scam ad without signing in or creating an account

Anyone could search every ad a platform runs

Each platform would publish a public record of every paid-for ad shown to people in the UK, known as an ‘ad library’.

An ad would stay in the library while it runs, and for a year after it stops.

Advertisers aim ads at particular people, so someone sees only the ads chosen for them. Ofcom says that without a library, even experts see no more.

Anyone could search the library without an account. While an ad is still running, people could report it from the library.

When the rules would start

Ofcom published the proposals on 10 July 2026. It says it plans to set out final decisions in 2027.

The rules would take effect once Parliament approves them. Ofcom has not said when that will be.

Once the rules are in force, Ofcom could fine a platform up to £18 million, or 10% of its global revenue, whichever is greater.

The rules would not set a deadline for taking a scam ad down. Ofcom says only that a platform should take a scam ad down swiftly, where that is technically feasible, the same standard as its existing rules on illegal content.

Oliver Griffiths, Ofcom’s online safety group director, said that platforms “should not drag their heels” and could start making improvements now.

What the rules would not cover

The rules cover ads shown on the platform itself. These companies also sell ads that appear on other websites, which the Online Safety Act does not cover, so the rules cannot either.

A fraudster who makes an ad with a tool from elsewhere, then uploads it, falls outside the rule on testing AI tools.

On a search engine, the page an ad leads to counts as part of the ad. On social media, the platform does not have to look at that landing page when it judges whether an ad is a scam.

Platforms would not have to warn people

A platform that decides an ad is a scam would take it down and could ban the advertiser. But it would not have to tell people who already saw or clicked the ad.

Ofcom research found that 21% of people who engaged with a scam ad took between a few days and more than a month to realise it was fraudulent. Ofcom says that by then the ad is likely to be hard to find and report.

In our response, we ask Ofcom to make three changes. The first is that a platform should tell people who saw or clicked an ad it later finds to be a scam.

Platforms would not have to scan ads

Large platforms already use software that scans ads automatically, without waiting for reports. Ofcom says that for many large platforms, most of the scam ads they remove are found this way.

These rules would not make platforms scan ads in this way. Ofcom says it wants proactive technology to filter out scam ads at source, and will consult separately on detailed proposals in autumn 2026.

What people can do now

Platforms already let people report a scam ad. Ofcom found a reporting category for fraud or scams on every platform it could test.

People can report a scam ad to the platform that showed it to them.

Anyone in England, Wales or Northern Ireland who lost money to a scam ad can report it to Report Fraud or call 0300 123 2040. In Scotland, people can call Police Scotland on 101.

Before acting on an ad for an investment, loan or pension, people can search the FCA Financial Services Register and check the FCA Warning List.

Ofcom wants comments by 2 October 2026. Anyone can respond through its response form.