Australia’s second-richest person is suing Facebook over the use of his image in scams


BY JAMES FARRELL
FEBRUARY 03 2022

An Australian billionaire launched a legal case against Facebook Inc. today, alleging that the company didn’t do enough to prevent the spread of scam ads with his face in them appearing on the platform.

The billionaire in question, mining magnate Andrew Forrest (pictured), says Facebook breached Australia’s anti-money laundering laws regarding the spread of cryptocurrency scams. Forrest, who is the chairman of the Fortescue Metals Group, accused Facebook of being “criminally reckless” in not taking down clickbait cryptocurrency ads, or at least not taking them down fast enough.

His face appeared in some of those ads, as did those of other well-known celebrities, which as usual promised that initial small investments in a certain digital currency could lead to great wealth. The lawsuit, which was filed at the Magistrates Court of Western Australia, says Facebook “failed to create controls or a corporate culture to prevent its systems being used to commit crime.”

How it works is that people see a targeted ad on their timeline and if they click the ad, they’re taken to a website that contains a bogus story about an investment. Since most people who use Facebook have likely seen one, you could say they are not rare. The website will then ask for a small investment of perhaps $250, but then the person will be asked to put more money in.

The Guardian reported that an elderly woman in Australia fell for this, initially investing a small amount. This original ad did indeed contain the face of Forrest. The woman eventually lost everything she had, about $80,000, and was unable to get the cash back. Another person lost a whopping $670,000, with the ad again showing Forrest’s face and a fake endorsement. Forrest said Facebook “knowingly profits” from such ads.

“I’m concerned about innocent Australians being scammed through clickbait advertising on social media,” he said in a statement today. “I’m acting here for Australians, but this is happening all over the world.”

“We take a multifaceted approach to stop these ads, we work not just to detect and reject the ads themselves but also block advertisers from our services and, in some cases, take court action to enforce our policies,” Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc. said in a statement.

Photo: Mines and Money/Flickr