Online advertising should be a win-win: brands gain exposure, publishers generate revenue and users discover relevant products. But in 2025, the reality looks a little different. Malvertising is on the rise, and publishers are feeling the heat.
Malvertising, or simply scam ads, don’t just trick users, they damage publisher reputations and can lead to significant financial losses. Deceptive, misleading and outright fraudulent, these ads erode trust in the entire ad ecosystem. And the problem is growing… fast. According to GeoEdge report, which serves as the source for all figures in this article (except for MGID’s platform insights):
- Malvertising levels surged by 10% in 2024, with auto-redirects making up 45% of all attacks — a 25% increase from last year;
- 56% of malicious ads target mobile users, many of which lead to fake tech support scams and phishing pages;
- Publishers are often unaware of these scams until it’s too late, leaving them to deal with frustrated users and declining ad quality scores.
So, the big question is: how can publishers protect their audience and revenue without sacrificing ad performance?
In this article, we’ll break down how MGID helps publishers fight back against scam ads, ensuring brand safety, ad quality and a trustworthy user experience — all without compromising monetization.
The Most Common Scam Ad Tactics
Whether it’s fake celebrity endorsements, fraudulent weight loss products or phishing gift card scams, online scam ads are becoming more deceptive, more advanced and, unfortunately, more common. Fraudsters are using AI-generated deepfake content, cloaking techniques and sophisticated redirects to bypass ad verification systems. Here’s a breakdown of the biggest scam ad threats publishers are facing today.
1. Auto-Redirects: The Biggest Malvertising Threat
Auto-redirects are the #1 method used by scammers, forcing users away from trusted publisher sites to malicious pages, which primarily are phishing scams or fake giveaways. These stats from 2024 speak for themselves:
- 81% of all malicious ads in October 2024 were redirects — the highest level on record;
- The hardest-hit regions were the U.S. & Canada, where 55% of all malvertising involved auto-redirects;
- The EU & APAC region experienced lower levels (~30%) of auto-redirects but still faced growing threats.
These attacks don’t just annoy users — they destroy trust. A visitor clicking on a news article only to be forcefully redirected to a fake virus alert or a too-good-to-be-true offer may never return.
2. Fake Celebrity Endorsements & Deceptive Product Offers
Scammers have mastered the art of making fake ads look real. By using AI-generated deepfake content, altered images and stolen branding, they create fake news articles and testimonials featuring celebrities, influencers and even politicians.
Take, for example, weight loss scams: fraudulent ads claim that famous actors or political figures lost weight using a miracle supplement. These ads lead to a fake news site or deceptive landing page, tricking users into purchasing bogus products.
Such scams are especially common in nutraceutical (weight loss, health supplements, anti-aging) categories, where fake trust elements drive conversions.
3. Gift Card Scams: Too Good to Be True? It Probably Is
Amazon, Walmart and Visa gift card offers lure users in with promises of free rewards; however, instead of free gift cards, their credit card details, login credentials or even personal data are stolen. These scams mimic official websites with near-perfect branding and design. Users are asked to “verify their eligibility” by entering payment details, which fraudsters then exploit.
Since gift cards are instantly redeemable and difficult to trace, scammers love using them for financial fraud.
Financial Clickbait Scams: Regional Variations
While financial scams aren’t as dominant globally, they still remain a major issue in certain regions.
- APAC: 23% of all malvertising incidents were financial fraud (fake investment opportunities, crypto scams and Ponzi-style trading schemes).
- U.S.: Only 4% of malvertising incidents were financial scams, largely due to stricter regulations and better consumer awareness.
Mobile vs. Desktop Attack Tactics: Where Are Users Most at Risk?
Scam ads vary depending on the device: mobile users are the primary target for auto-redirect attacks, while desktop users see more clickbait-driven fraud.
- 56% of malicious ads targeted mobile users, with 68% relying on redirects (e.g., fake virus warnings or forced app installs).
- 79% of desktop scam ads were clickbait-based, using misleading headlines to lure users into fraudulent websites.
As fraud tactics evolve, scammers are optimizing their strategies for different devices and platforms, making it even harder for publishers to stay ahead.
Insights from MGID: Top Fraudulent Ad Categories in 2024
Our platform continuously monitors and detects scam campaigns. In 2024, we observed three key fraud categories dominating the advertising landscape.
- Deceptive sites (728,719 detections – 63.95%): Many scam ads initially appear legitimate, but later, scammers alter their content, inserting fake endorsements from celebrities, politicians or medical professionals to -mislead users.
- Landing page changes (141,928 detections – 13.17%): Fraudsters use cloaking techniques, swapping compliant landing pages with deceptive elements post-approval. These changes often include unauthorized influencer promotions and misleading health claims.
- Malicious URL post-click (122,637 detections – 11.38%): These scams involve phishing attempts, fake virus alerts, forced push notifications and malicious software downloads that can compromise users’ data and security.
Once detected, our system immediately blocks these fraudulent campaigns, ensuring they don’t reach audiences. We will tell you exactly how we do this a little further.
As we have mentioned, fraudulent ad activity varies by region, with some countries facing significantly higher scam volumes.
- United States & Canada – Among the hardest-hit regions, these North American countries account for a significant portion of deceptive ad traffic, with a high concentration of auto-redirect scams.
- Europe (Italy, Germany, UK) – The EU is currently experiencing a rise in fraud incidents involving fake financial schemes and misleading e-commerce offers. Italy alone recorded over 220,000 deceptive site alerts in 2024.
- APAC (Vietnam, India, Australia) – Financial scams are particularly prevalent in the APAC region, with 23% of fraudulent ads linked to fake investment opportunities.
- Latin America & smaller markets – Countries like Argentina, Armenia and Albania are facing a surge in fraudulent ads, often disguised as tech support scams or free giveaways.
By constantly analyzing global scam patterns, MGID proactively adjusts its detection algorithms and policy enforcement to block malicious ads before they can impact publishers.
How MGID Detects and Blocks Fraudulent Ads
Stopping scam ads isn’t solely about reacting: it’s about staying ahead of fraudsters. At MGID, we use a multi-layered approach that combines AI-driven automation, real-time scanning and human oversight to ensure only high-quality, trustworthy ads reach publishers' platforms.
Here’s how we do it.
1. AI-Powered Ad Moderation: Smarter Fraud Detection
Machine learning plays a critical role in identifying deceptive ads before they go live. Our AI-powered moderation system:
- Scans ad content in real time, detecting fraud patterns, misleading claims and cloaking attempts;
- Learns from past fraud attempts, continuously updating its detection model to catch new scam tactics;
- Prevents bad actors from slipping through by analyzing both the ad creative and landing page.
By leveraging AI, we detect scam tactics faster than fraudsters can evolve.
2. GeoEdge Integration: Real-Time Protection
MGID has long partnered with GeoEdge, a leading ad security provider, to strengthen not only ad quality but also user safety. With a suite of security features, our integration with GeoEdge helps to ensure real-time protection.
- Real-time ad scanning: GeoEdge systematically analyzes ad creatives and landing pages to detect auto-redirects, phishing attempts and cloaked ads before they reach users.
- Advanced fraud detection: AI-powered models preemptively identify prohibited ad tactics, blocking deceptive campaigns at the content creation stage.
- Advertiser verification & compliance: All MGID clients must pass Know Your Customer (KYC) and Know Your Business (KYB) verification, preventing fraudulent advertisers from entering the system.
- Zero tolerance for malware and malicious content: Any hint of malware, phishing or fraudulent activity is either immediately blocked or flagged for further review before entering the MGID network.
3. Human Oversight: The Final Check
Even with AI and automation, human expertise remains essential in fighting fraud. Thanks to MGID’s dedicated Compliance Department, we can provide comprehensive fraud protection through the following measures:
- Manual review of flagged ads, which ensures no deceptive content slip through the cracks;
- Regular ad policy updates to stay ahead of new scam tactics;
- Decisive action on fraud alerts, blocking bad campaigns before they impact users.
This hybrid model ensures maximum brand safety, protecting both publishers and their audiences from scam ads.
The Evolution of Ad Fraud: Staying Ahead of Emerging Threats
As publishers and ad platforms strengthen their detection systems, fraudsters find new ways to bypass security measures. These tactics make fraudulent ads harder to recognize and even more difficult to block.
Scammers are no longer just using deceptive product claims: they’re blending real information with misleading narratives, creating a false sense of trust. Here are some of the biggest fraud trends we’ve seen in 2025.
AI-Powered Cloaking & Redirect Loops
Fraudsters manipulate verification pages, making it appear as if the ad is compliant. Once approved, they redirect users to scam pages featuring deepfake influencers, fake investment schemes and fraudulent offers.
Fake Trust Elements & Brand Impersonation
Scammers copy real brand logos, colors and ad formats to legitimize their deceptive campaigns. They use fake reviews, falsified “as seen on” badges and doctored trust seals to manipulate users into clicking.
Geo & Browser-Based Fraud Tactics
Some fraudsters use adaptive scams, where the content changes based on the user’s location, device or browser type. This makes detection harder, as security teams see a different version of the ad than real users.
Illegal Influencer & Endorsement Scams
Using AI-generated voices and video deepfakes, fraudsters create fake endorsement campaigns where public figures appear to endorse scams they’ve never heard of.
How MGID is Staying Ahead of the Threats
Many of these fraudulent techniques are designed to be nearly impossible to replicate, making traditional detection methods ineffective. To combat these rapidly evolving threats, MGID continuously enhances its fraud prevention strategies.
- Stronger policies and compliance updates: Our team regularly revises ad guidelines to block new scam tactics before they gain traction.
- Expanded behavioral analysis & violator matching: We use AI-driven behavioral tracking to detect fraud patterns, even when scammers alter their tactics.
- Hybrid verification: By combining automated detection with manual oversight, we ensure that even the most sophisticated scams don’t slip through.
Fraudsters may continue to evolve, but at MGID, we’re always one step ahead, keeping publishers protected, ad quality high and user trust intact.
Conclusion
The problem of scam ads cannot be simply brushed aside: they erode user trust, damage publisher reputations and threaten long-term revenue. As fraudsters develop increasingly sophisticated tactics, publishers must take proactive measures to keep their platforms safe.
At MGID, we understand that ad quality and revenue shouldn’t be a trade-off. That’s why we’ve built a multi-layered fraud prevention system that combines AI-powered moderation, real-time threat detection and expert human oversight. By leveraging GeoEdge’s advanced security tools, strict compliance policies and behavioral analysis, we ensure that only legitimate, high-quality ads appear on publisher platforms.
Publishers partnering with MGID gain access to top-tier ad safety measures, protecting their audience and brand while maximizing ad performance. Ready to safeguard your platform and boost revenue without the risk of scam ads? Contact MGID today to learn how we can help you create a safer, fraud-free advertising experience.
