Australian Mogul Sues Facebook Over Scam Advertisements

Fraudulent advertisements are one of the most common and pervasive problems on Facebook. So it’s no surprise when some of these ads try to leverage the fame and fortune of someone else to fool unsuspecting users. That’s why, this week, Australian billionaire and mining magnate Andrew Forrest announced he is suing Facebook for failing to remove scam ads that use his image.

Under Facebook’s rules, this kind of activity is specifically banned. However, Forrest says he has made “many requests” to the company that went ignored before he decided to pursue legal action. According to Forrest, Facebook was “criminally reckless” because it did not take “sufficient steps to stop criminals from using its social media platform to send scam advertisements to defraud Australian users.”

“This action is being taken on behalf of those everyday Australians — Mums and Dads, Grans and Grandads — who work all their lives to gather their savings and to ensure those savings aren’t swindled away by scammers,” Forrest said in a statement.

While that’s pretty lofty language, there’s no doubt Forrest has his own financial interests at heart by filing this suit. However, if one of its byproducts is that there are less scams on the social media giant’s platform, more power to him.




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