Scam adverts appear on the same social media and search platforms as ordinary advertising. The Online Safety Act 2023 gives Ofcom, the UK online safety regulator, a role in tackling them, and Ofcom has published draft codes of practice for consultation. This article summarises Ofcom’s consultation page, its news release of 10 July 2026 and its register of categorised services. The codes are proposals only. They are not yet in force, and Ofcom says final decisions will be published next year, with a statement by mid-2027 at the latest.
What the Act and the consultation cover
Ofcom says the Online Safety Act requires certain online services, known as categorised services, to have greater transparency and accountability, to give users more choice and control and to protect users from fraudulent advertising. Its consultation on draft Fraudulent Advertising Codes of Practice was published on 10 July 2026 and closes on 2 October 2026. The proposals apply to paid-for advertising content, and not to user-generated content or non-sponsored search content. The duties on fraudulent advertising apply to platforms in Category 1 or Category 2A on the register of categorised services.
Ofcom also states that the measures build on existing legal duties, already in force, for all platforms in scope of the Act to tackle fraudulent content that is not a paid-for advert.
Which services are covered
Ofcom defines the categories as follows:
- Category 1: user-to-user services with either 34 million UK users and a content recommender system, or 7 million UK users, a recommender system and the ability for users to share or forward content;
- Category 2A: search services, meaning a search engine or a site or app with a search function that can pull results from a range of sources, with over 7 million UK users.
Ofcom’s register, published on 30 June 2026 and last updated on 14 August 2026, lists as Category 1 services Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Quora, Reddit, Roblox, Snapchat, TikTok, WhatsApp, X and YouTube. Ofcom describes the duties in practice as applying to social media and search platforms above the government-set thresholds.
Why Ofcom is acting
Ofcom’s news release gives its reasons. It says that more than £40 billion a year is spent on digital advertising in the UK, that 51% of adults who are online have encountered potentially fraudulent advertising on social media, search services and video-sharing platforms, and that 36% see such adverts frequently. It also cites an estimate, drawn from Ofcom’s own economic analysis, that over £200 million is lost by victims to these kinds of scams in the UK on average each year.
What the draft code proposes
Ofcom describes nearly 40 proposed measures, including:
- banning accounts that post scam adverts and preventing them from creating new accounts;
- checking that people setting up new advertising accounts work for whom they claim to, to stop impostors pretending to represent legitimate businesses;
- ensuring anyone advertising banking or investment services is legally allowed to, for example by being registered with the Financial Conduct Authority;
- stronger security safeguards to lessen the risk of advertising accounts being hijacked;
- testing AI advert-making tools to reduce the risk of misuse to create scam content;
- a dedicated channel for trusted bodies such as law enforcement to flag scam adverts, which must then be swiftly removed;
- easier ways to report scam adverts.
Ofcom also says it wants proactive technology used to filter out fraudulent ads at source and will bring forward a separate consultation on detailed proposals in autumn 2026, alongside a broader package of safety measures.
Timetable and enforcement
Once approved by Parliament, the codes will come into effect. Ofcom says companies that fall short can face enforcement action, including fines of up to £18 million or 10% of global revenue, whichever is greater. It adds that platforms do not need to wait for the new measures and can start making improvements now. The Financial Conduct Authority and the National Economic Crime Centre are quoted in the release as supporting the proposals.
What this means for readers now
Because the fraudulent advertising codes are draft proposals, nothing in them can yet be relied on as a legal protection. An advert’s presence on a large platform is not evidence that it has been checked. The practical checks on this site remain the relevant ones: checking a website or financial firm before paying, and the routes for reporting a scam. Ofcom’s own proposal to require checks against the FCA register for financial adverts underlines the same advice.
Frequently asked questions
Are platforms legally required to remove scam adverts today?
Ofcom says its codes on fraudulent advertising are proposals. It says existing duties already in force cover fraudulent content that is not a paid-for advert.
Does this apply outside the UK?
The consultation concerns the UK regime under the Online Safety Act, and the user thresholds are counted by UK users.
The bottom line
Ofcom’s draft codes would, for the first time, require the largest social media and search platforms to take specified steps against scam adverts, from banning repeat offenders to verifying financial advertisers. They are still out for consultation until 2 October 2026, with decisions due next year and enforcement only after Parliament approves the codes. Until then, the responsibility for checking an advert before paying still sits largely with the person who sees it.