Australia charges Meta for posting fraudulent Facebook ads

Facebook and Meta company logos on smartphone and monitor screens. File photoMOSCOW, Mar 18The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has charged Meta for posting a fraudulent Facebook ad that allegedly features Australian celebrities. promoting investments in cryptocurrency could mislead Facebook users into believing that the advertised products are associated with famous people. The ads featured the likes of businessman Dick Smith, broadcaster David Koch and former NSW premier Mike Baird. In fact, none of them is associated with such projects and did not express their support for them. The announcements contained links to an article with fake quotes from these individuals and a registration window where you need to leave your contacts. Later, the scammers called registered users and persuaded them to send their money to them through psychological pressure and deceit. According to the regulator, the Meta administration was aware of such activities on its platform, but did not take any action due to high profits. It is reported that such an approach violates two Australian laws, and also causes reputational damage to celebrities. In addition, the agency believes that thanks to fine-tuning of targeting (targeting) on ​​Facebook, advertising was shown to the most vulnerable categories of users. The head of the Commission, Rod Sims, noted that as a result of one of these incidents, the user transferred 650 thousand Australian dollars (about 480 thousand USD).