BIZ BUZZ: Why is Facebook allowing scam promos?

Cyberscammers using deepfake videos of Elon Musk, the richest person on the planet, have defrauded Americans of billions of dollars, according to US media reports.

Here in the Philippines, among the cyberscammers’ favorite big-time “endorsers,” especially those targeting stock market newbies, is business tycoon Teresita Sy-Coson of the SM group.

Her name and image are unscrupulously being used over and over again for fraudulent stock picking and market seminars. Once one fraudulent social media account is taken down, another appears.

READ: INQUIRER.net warns public of social media posts using misleading URLs

Scammers likewise exploit the respective logos of the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) and Ateneo de Manila University Graduate School of Business and impersonate personalities like PSE president Ramon Monzon and popular stock market strategist April Lee-Tan in an attempt to fool wannabe investors.

But why is Facebook indiscriminately accepting ads (They appear as sponsored posts) that promote scams in the first place? Without any strict vetting process for paid promotions, isn’t the platform unwittingly abetting the scammers … and earning from it?

We hear that top officials of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are now looking into the matter and may soon summon not just the local representatives of social media giants but also key local telcos.

“After requiring SIM registration, there are still a lot of scams because Facebook has access to the network of telecom operators,” a high-ranking SEC official told Biz Buzz.

Gone are the days when telcos think that they are only regulated by the National Telecommunications Commission; at the end of the day, they are still corporations that are registered at the SEC, the official pointed out.

But social media platforms also have to do their share in preventing the proliferation of fraudsters —Doris Dumlao-Abadilla

1,500 firms want clean slate

Who would pass up a chance to begin again?

Certainly not hundreds of companies registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The corporate watchdog told Biz Buzz on Monday that 1,500 delinquent companies—i.e. those that are either being penalized or have been suspended for filing their reports late—have so far applied for the Enhanced Compliance Incentive Plan (ECIP) since the amnesty program was introduced in September.

The program isn’t exactly the “incentive” we’re all used to, in that it only lessens the fees a noncompliant company has to pay for a clean slate.

The SEC isn’t stopping anyone from applying, especially with the Nov. 30 deadline nearing.

“With less than a month left before we officially close ECIP, we encourage noncompliant, suspended and revoked corporations to complete their applications to ensure the continuous operations of their businesses,” SEC Chair Emilio Aquino said in a statement.

Having the powers and privileges granted to you as a registered company completely stripped certainly doesn’t sound like an ideal situation. —Meg J. Adonis