According to reports, Instagram and Facebook-owner Meta Platforms are introducing stricter rules for advertisers of financial products and services targeting Australians in a bid to crack down on scams on the social media platforms.

The action follows Meta's announcement in October that it had removed 8,000 so-called "celeb bait" advertisements as part of an initiative with Australian banks to stop scams that utilize celebrities' pictures to deceive people into funding fraudulent investment schemes.

According to Meta, before running financial services ads, advertisers will need to confirm their payer and beneficiary details, including their Australian Financial Services Licence number.

"The introduction of financial advertiser verification is an important additional step towards protecting people in Australia from these sophisticated scammers,” says Meta ANZ managing director Will Easton.

Following verification, advertisers must include their payer and beneficiary details. Once the ad is approved, this information will appear in a "Paid for By" disclaimer, according to the company.

Plans to punish internet companies up to 5% of their worldwide turnover for failing to stop the spread of false material online were abandoned by Australia's center-left government last month.

It comes ahead of a federal election that is scheduled to take place within a year, and the bill was part of a broad regulatory drive by Canberra, where politicians have complained that foreign-domiciled tech platforms are overriding the nation's sovereignty.

A historic rule prohibiting children under 16 from using social media was approved in Australia this week.