The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is challenging Meta Platforms, Inc. (formerly Facebook) in federal court, alleging that the company and its Irish subsidiary engaged in “false, misleading or deceptive conduct” by publishing crypto ads for celebrity scams.
Some users have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars to the sophisticated and long-term scams associated with the ad.
The spotlight on Meta has been heated in Australia since early February, with Coin-Crypto previously reporting that the ACCC was investigating the company over allegedly fraudulent crypto ads. Australian mining billionaire Andrew Forrest also took legal action against the company for hosting ads that would use his name to scam victims.
In an announcement Posted earlier today, the ACCC claimed that Meta “assisted and aided or knowingly engaged in false or misleading conduct and statements by the advertisers.”
The ACCC highlighted unapproved or approved “scam” ads featuring prominent Australian figures such as entrepreneur Dick Smith, TV presenter David Koch and former NSW Prime Minister Mike Baird.
The regulator said the ads contained dubious links that redirected Facebook users to a fake media article with quotes attributed to the public figure allegedly endorsing a “cryptocurrency or money-making scheme.”
“Users were then invited to sign up and were then approached by scammers who used high-pressure tactics, such as repeated phone calls, to convince users to deposit funds into the bogus schemes,” the announcement read.
ACCC chairman Rod Sims didn’t mince words when he claimed that “Meta is responsible for these ads it publishes on its platform” and that the company would benefit financially by not removing them:
“It’s an important part of Meta’s business to enable advertisers to target users who are most likely to click the link in an ad to visit the ad’s landing page, using Facebook’s algorithms. Those landing page visits from ads generate significant revenue for Facebook.”
“In a shocking case, we are aware of a consumer who lost more than $650,000 because one of these scams was falsely advertised as an investment opportunity on Facebook. This is a disgrace,” he added.
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The ACCC argues that the company’s conduct violates the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) or the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act (ASIC Act), asking for “statements, orders, fines, costs and other injunctions” .