Andrew Forrest and ACCC pursue legal actions against Facebook over cryptocurrency scams
Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest is sick of people losing their life savings to fake ads on Facebook that make false claims about how he made his fortune.
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Mining billionaire Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest is pursuing legal action against Facebook for failing to stop his name and image from being used as clickbait in social-media scams that have cost Australians their life savings.
The Daily Telegraph can also reveal the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is investigating Facebook with the aim of bringing Federal Court proceedings alleging misleading conduct over the “sponsored posts” that falsely claim the metals magnate secretly made his fortune via cryptocurrency. Mr Forrest’s spokesman said his “legal actions” were being pursued “on behalf of victims”.
It’s understood he has been inundated with pleas for help, including from a woman who handed $670,000 to foreign cyber-crooks after being lured in by a sponsored post in her Facebook “news feed”.
The post linked to a fake ABC story based on a made-up interview.
“Facebook may currently be unregulated, but it’s not above the law,” Mr Forrest’s spokesman said, adding that the magnate “has repeatedly requested Facebook to take steps to monitor and control its platform” on behalf of victims of scam cryptocurrency advertisements involving his image.
His efforts have included going public in April 2019, describing the accounts of fraud as “abhorrent”.
In November that year he sent a letter to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg urging him to stop the hoax.
“However, the (scam ads) are still appearing on Facebook feeds nearly three years after they first started,” the spokesman said.
The Daily Telegraph requested details of the legal actions but the spokesman did not provide them.
ACCC chairman Rod Sims said Facebook — and Google-owned YouTube — had to take “more responsibility” for fake ads on their globally dominant digital platforms.
“Of course they don’t want to do things that lower their profit, but I’m afraid that is what they are going to have to do,” Mr Sims told The Daily Telegraph.
“We may need to take court action to make sure they are more responsible legally,” he added.
“The main one we are looking at is Facebook. It’s an investigation (at this stage).”
Between May and September this year the ACCC used its own Facebook profile to gather information about the scam from the public.
The ACCC also sought tip-offs about false claims on Facebook relating to former NSW Premier Mike Baird, Channel 7 presenter David Koch and Australian businessman Dick Smith.
A Facebook spokeswoman said it was “co-operating with the ACCC’s investigation into this matter”.
“We don’t want ads seeking to scam people out of money or mislead people on Facebook – they violate our policies and are not good for our community. We take a multifaceted approach to stop these ads.”
She declined to comment on Mr Forrest’s legal pursuits.
*Do you know a victim of this scam? Reporter John Rolfe would like to try to help them. Email john.rolfe@news.com.au
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Originally published as Andrew Forrest and ACCC pursue legal actions against Facebook over cryptocurrency scams
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