Meta is to use facial recognition technology to try and crack down on scammers.
The parent company of Facebook and Instagram currently uses an ad review system with AI to detect fake celebrity endorsements in ads. Meta is now planning to boost its measures with the new tech.
It will compare images from ads flagged as dubious with the celebrity’s Facebook or Instagram profile photos. If the picture is confirmed to be a match and the endorsement a scam, it will be automatically deleted.
Meta had found “promising results” from “early testing” of the system so will now start showing in-app notifications to a larger group of public figures who have been impacted by the “celeb-bait” scams.
“Scammers are relentless and continuously evolve their tactics to try to evade detection. We hope that by sharing our approach, we can help inform our industry’s defenses against online scammers,” Meta said.
The company also plans to use facial recognition technology to help people who are locked out of their social media accounts.
Currently, users would have to upload official IDs or documents but now video selfies and facial recognition are being tested as a means of proving identity.
However, the new system will not be initially offered in areas where permission from regulators has not yet been obtained, including the U.K. and EU.
