Social media platforms need to be held “accountable” for their role in facilitating online adverts tied to financial scams, US payments giant PayPal privately told the Government earlier this year.
PayPal said the number of people falling victim to financial frauds and scams was an “increasing concern” for the payments processor, during a meeting with finance officials and junior minister Robert Troy.
PayPal’s top Irish lobbyist said the company supported a Government proposal at European Union level to subject social media platforms to stricter rules around online advertising, to clamp down on scams.
Scam online adverts commonly use images or deepfake videos of Irish politicians or celebrities to promote financial investment opportunities promising huge returns, which in reality are tied to sophisticated operations aimed at stealing people’s savings.
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Those who hand over contact details after clicking on the adverts are then targeted by staff working in professional scam centres, usually based in eastern Europe, who deceive individuals into making payments they believe to be for legitimate financial investments.
Last week The Irish Times revealed the inner workings of two such scam centres, based on a vast data leak detailing their operations. The investigation was carried out in partnership with the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, a non-government investigative journalism organisation.
Irish finance officials previously proposed measures to combat online scam adverts, which they said could be included in new EU financial regulations now being debated in Brussels.
The Irish proposal suggested social media companies be made to vet those who post adverts promoting financial investment schemes on Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok and other platforms.
The Irish banking sector has backed the idea, which aims to cut off the first link in the chain of the fraudulent schemes, which have cost Irish victims hundreds of thousands of euro.
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Documents show PayPal lobbyist Jan Eger told Mr Troy, Minister of State for financial services, the payments firm was “supportive” of the Government’s anti-fraud proposal.
PayPal was in favour of “telecommunications and social media platforms being held accountable”, according to minutes of the May 23rd meeting.
“PayPal are of the view that this is necessary to create a level playing field and shared burden,” minutes of the meeting stated. The notes of the discussion were released to The Irish Times following a Freedom of Information Act request.
Separately, PayPal, which employs about 1,500 staff in Ireland, said it appreciated its “continued positive relationship with the Irish Government”.
The US multinational company acknowledged the willingness of the Government to engage with business and industry, which it said “is not the case in many jurisdictions”, minutes stated.
An IDA briefing to prepare Mr Troy for the meeting noted PayPal had cut several hundred jobs from its Irish operation in recent years, and closed its office in Dundalk. During the meeting Mr Eger told Mr Troy the company had “no plans to restructure further at the moment”.
