Australia’s regulator accused Facebook of advertising a cryptocurrency scam

The Australian Commission for Competition and Protection of Consumer Rights (ACCC) sued the owner of the Facebook company META for publishing fraudulent advertising with the participation of celebrities.

According to ACCC, advertising promoted investments in cryptocurrencies and earnings on https://gagarin.news/ua/news/more-russians-came-under-coinbase-sanctions/ behalf of famous Australians, who had nothing to do with them.

The announcements contained links leading Facebook users to a fake article in the media, which contained statements of the public figure appearing in the advertisement.

Then users were offered to register, after which scammers were associated with them. With the help of various tactics, they persuaded to invest in fake schemes.

“The key part of the META business is to provide advertisers with the opportunity to target users who are most likely to click on the link in order to go to the target page. These transitions bring Facebook a significant income, ”said the chairman of the ACCC Rod Sims.

The regulator claims that META did nothing to prevent the publication of fraudulent ads – they continued to display on Facebook even after celebrities’ complaints whose names or images were used in them.

“In addition to the innumerable losses for consumers, this advertisement also damages the reputation of public figures falsely related to it,” Sims said.

He noted that in one “shocking case” the user led to a declaration of scammers and lost 650,000 AUD (~ $ 480 400).

“The meter was to do more to detect and remove false or misleading advertising on Facebook so that consumers do not become victims of ruthless scammers,” the head of ACCC emphasized.

The agency accused the company of violation of the protection of consumer rights, as well as on securities and investments. ACCC demanded for a meta prohibition, reimbursement of expenses and payment of fines.

Recall that in November 2021 Facebook verified the unofficial page of Ilona Mask. The author of the account with 153,000 subscribers immediately launched a fraudulent distribution of bitcoin on behalf of the entrepreneur.