Fleeced by criminals via big tech

Meta’s platforms, the tech giant boasts, give billions of people a voice, and it claims to be “taking action to keep our platforms safe and inclusive for everyone”. Including criminals fleecing other users, evidenced by the experience of Westpac and its customers. The big four bank has accused the owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp of failing to deal with a scam and fraud epidemic by failing to deal with fake posts. Westpac customer and corporate services group executive Carolyn McCann has written to Meta raising 360 scam incidents noted by the bank over the past 10 months, David Ross reported in Business. Fake posts included a crypto scam advertised on Facebook that cost one Westpac customer $80,000. Other customers lost thousands of dollars on fake rental bond cases, or fake car deposit incidents. “These numbers are only for Westpac customers,” Ms McCann said. “Across the financial services sector, the number would be significantly higher.’’

Westpac’s raising the alarm reinforces the fact that the dangers revealed in May in an investigative reporting series by national crime correspondent David Murray and Southeast Asia correspondent Amanda Hodge remain. Murray and Hodge showed that worldwide, the law and the agencies supposed to enforce it have been left far behind by scammers and the greed of big tech. As Meta stands by, hardened criminals inflict pain on internet users through scams, including scams that misuse the images of respected public figures in fake advertisements. Those whose images have been misused as “celeb bait”, some of whom have tried to hold Meta to account, to no avail, include miners Andrew Forrest and Gina Rinehart, businessman Dick Smith, former Sunrise host David Koch, A Current Affair host Allison Langdon, the late Shane Warne, Jim Chalmers and former Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe. In April, a deepfake Facebook video ad showing former ASX boss Dominic Stevens promoting an “Australian Securities Exchange-ASX” group purporting to give investment insights was reported to the social media company, but remained online. The judgment in a recent court case brought by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission, Ross reported, found that half of the cryptocurrency-related ads on Facebook, highlighted in the case, were scams or violated Meta’s policies.

In a letter to Meta seen by The Australian, Ms McCann said she saw “every single day the increasing impact this scourge is having on customers and the community”. Social media companies should pay more attention to crime on their platforms, she said: “That’s where many scams find their victims.” The broadside from Westpac was the third time it had raised concerns with Meta. After ignoring its first letter, Meta only responded to the third letter after the issue was raised by The Australian. Meta said “cross-industry collaboration” was “the most impactful, inspirational way to tackle scams”. Whatever the benefits of collaboration, it is up to Meta to protect customers by taking down scam ads, investigating those that are suspicious and acting to thwart criminals.