Scam ads promoting fake tax breaks prosper on Facebook

Hundreds of ads running on Facebook for over a year promised U.S. homeowners that governors in their state had just signed off on big tax breaks for installing solar energy panels on their roofs.

But the tax incentives were simply made up.

The scam ads used photos of some U.S. governors and sometimes President Donald Trump to claim that with new, lucrative tax incentives, people might actually make money when they add solar technology to their home. Facebook users only needed to enter contact information to find out more.

Governors’ offices confirmed the offers aren’t real.

Experts say these kinds of ads show how easily misinformation festers online and raises questions about if big tech companies such as Facebook are really capable of policing their own ads.