Meta hit with lawsuit over failure to squash crypto scams

Date:
Fri, 18 Mar 2022 12:16:30 +0000

Description:
"We don't want ads seeking to scam people out of money or mislead people on Facebook," company responds.

FULL STORY ======================================================================

Facebook parent company Meta is facing a lawsuit in Australia that claims it failed to prevent the showing of ads that promoted cryptocurrency scams.

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) alleges the company broke laws prohibiting false, misleading, or deceptive conduct, as well as laws regulating investing.

According to the report, there seem to have been multiple ads, showing celebrities, politicians, and television hosts, promoting various fraudulent money-making schemes. None of those people consented to their image being
used that way, also making a case for identity theft . TechRadar needs you!

We're looking at how our readers use VPNs with different devices so we can improve our content and offer better advice. This survey shouldn't take more than 60 seconds of your time, and entrants from the UK and US will have the chance to enter a draw for a 100 Amazon gift card (or equivalent in USD). Thank you for taking part.

Click here to start the survey in a new window << Facebook denies responsibility

The people that fell for the scam, and registered an account with these fraudulent services, were also under high-pressure tactics, including
repeated phone calls, forcing them to deposit, and ultimately lose, their money.

One person allegedly lost almost half a million dollars, the ACCC claims.

"We allege that the technology of Meta enabled these ads to be targeted to users most likely to engage with the ads, that Meta assured its users it
would detect and prevent spam and promote safety on Facebook, but it failed
to prevent the publication of other similar celebrity endorsement cryptocurrency scam ads on its pages or warn users," The Register cited Rod Sims, chair of the ACCC, saying.

"The essence of our case is that Meta is responsible for these ads that it publishes on its platform," Sims added. "It is a key part of Meta's business to enable advertisers to target users who are most likely to click on the
link in an ad to visit the ad's landing page, using Facebook algorithms.
Those visits to landing pages from ads generate substantial revenue for Facebook. Meta should have been doing more to detect and then remove false or misleading ads on Facebook, to prevent consumers from falling victim to ruthless scammers." Read more

Facebook eases up on cryptocurrency adverts

Facebook bans all ads for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies over scam

fears

Facebook relaxes blockchain ad rules

In response to the lawsuit, Meta told The Register that it rejects the idea
of deliberately allowing these ads on the platform, and that it will work
with the ACCC and defend the proceedings.

"We don't want ads seeking to scam people out of money or mislead people on Facebook they violate our policies and are not good for our community. We
use technology to detect and block scam ads and work to get ahead of
scammers' attempts to evade our detection systems, Facebook said. Here's our rundown of the best password managers right now

Via: The Register



======================================================================
Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/news/meta-hit-with-lawsuit-over-failure-to-squash-cr ypto-scams/


--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 (Linux/64)
* Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100)