Update:
- Meta Platforms has been let off the hook of allegations it is responsible for money lost by its users to third-party scam ads posted on its Facebook platform.ย
- The judge overseeing the case determined Facebook users had not established that Meta had โmaterially contributedโ to the illegality of the scam ads in question.
- Facebook users have been given the option to amend the class action lawsuit.
- Facebook users had claimed in their class action lawsuit that the company had a policy of โactively soliciting, encouraging and assisting scammers.โย
- The judge overseeing the case ruled, however, that the users did not claim Meta had directly participated in the purchases they made on the websites they landed on after clicking on the alleged scam ads.
Facebook Scams Class Action Lawsuit Overview:ย
- Who: A pair of Californians want to represent consumers who have been victims of Facebook scams.ย
- Why: Facebook has long profited from usersโ private information, says the pairโs class action lawsuit, and it is time the tech giant took responsibility and paid users who fall victim to scams on the social media site.
- Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in California federal court.
(08/12/2022)
Facebook scams target millions and a pair of Californians want the tech giant to start paying victims who fall for the deceptive ads, according to a class action lawsuit filed Wednesday.
Lead plaintiffs Christopher Calise and Anastasia Groschen want to represent consumers who have fallen for deceptive ads and Facebook scams. They accuse the social media giant of โactively soliciting, encouraging, and assisting scammersโ using Facebook to defraud users and want the company to pay.ย ย
Calise and Groschen point out that Facebook collects reams of data from each user โ for free.ย
User information has โenormous financial value,โ say the plaintiffs, and Facebook uses the data to target users with ads, including deceptive and misleading ads from scammers.ย ย
Facebook Scams Bring Revenue to Social Media Giant
The tech company is well aware that its platform, as well as its Instagram sites are rife with Facebook scams, including bait-and-switch and other schemes intended to defraud users, say the plaintiffs. However, instead of putting a stop to this behavior or even turning a blind eye, Facebook has encouraged scammers to use the site, allege the plaintiffs.ย ย
โFacebook actively solicits, encourages, and assists scammers in numerous ways,โ states the class action lawsuit.ย ย
On the revenue side, the company encourages sales teams to sell Facebook ads to known scammers who repeatedly violate its ad policies, claim the plaintiffs.ย ย
Further, Facebook fails to properly police and protect users from scams, allege the plaintiffs. They accuse the company of ignoring hacked accounts, as long as the scammer is paying the tech company for the ad, which is, in reality, a Facebook scam.ย
Repeated violations of the social media siteโs advertising policies by Facebook scammers are ignored as well, claims the class action lawsuit.ย ย
โCracking down on scammers would jeopardize the billions of dollars per year in ad revenue that Facebook collects from scammers,โ states the lawsuit.ย
โTherefore, even as Facebookโs public relations team touts the closing of certain accounts and lawsuits targeting a few scammers, Facebook remains economically motivated to continue soliciting, encouraging, and assisting scammers at the expense of its users.โย
The plaintiffs say that a court order forcing the company to take more responsibility for Facebook scams and deceptive advertising is necessary. They want the company to incentivize the protection of users, rather than the sale of ads and also extend the platformโs Purchase Protection program to victims of Facebook scams. They also want the social media giant to disgorge the enormous amount of profit it has made by selling user information to advertisers.ย
Facebook faces a litany of complaints and legal action concerning the collection of user data and its ad policies. This summer, the tech giant fought a class action lawsuit contending Facebook misrepresented its data privacy practices to get more users and has monopolized the social media market through acquisitions.ย
Online advertisers have also hit Facebook with a class action lawsuit claiming the company misrepresents the supposed reach of ads on the social media site.ย
Have you fallen for Facebook scams? We want to hear about it! Tell us what happened in the comment section below. ย
The plaintiffs are represented by Adam M. Apton, Mark S. Reich, and Courtney E. Maccarone of Levi & Korsinsky, LLP.ย
The Facebook Scams Class Action Lawsuit is Calise, et al. v. Facebook, Inc., Case No. 3:21-cv-06186 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
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965 thoughts onMeta Defeats Facebook Scam Ad Class Action
Scammed twice by facebook, one for clothing from Kentucky only to get a tracking number from Italy when I emailed and asked what the fuck! Received a reply with a tracking number from china. Now a month later and nothing. Second one made it look like I was buying from Best Buy and nothing no product and no response.
I fell for a fake Wayfair ad posted on Facebook. Whoever posted the ad apparently captured my debit card number, and even though PNC turned down the transaction because of it being based overseas, I was able to purchase with my VISA card. Very quickly, I determined that it was a fake ad after calling Wayfair directly. I immediately placed a hold on my VISA card. But because the PNC card was turned down, I never thought to put a hold on this also. For the next 2 1/2 weeks, I had $31,000 drained from my bank account. Iโm currently waiting for PNC to do itโs investigation.
Please add me to this settlement
Facebook running ads with names of Cathie Woods, Bill Ackman, investment firms which then lead to whatsapp group touting investment teaching, lure clients to buy stocks which are then manipulated (pump and dump) causing millions in losses. FB refuses to stop these ads.
Currently being contacted claiming to be someone from high school who I havenโt talked to in over 40 years. The ruse is that if I provide information to an โagentโ I will get free grant money from the government. The agent proceeded to ask me for FULL NAME:
FULL HOME ADDRESSโฆโฆ
TEXT NUMBER:
DATE OF BIRTH:
OWN A HOUSE OR RENT APT: โฆโฆ
MONTHLY INCOME;
YOUR AGE::
CASH OR CHECK:
YOUR PICTURESโฆ
but wonโt explain exactly where the money is coming from or why I am even eligible for the money. I have tried to report the scam, but get this message from the Facebook site โWeโre sorry, thereโs a technical problem with this feature. Weโre working on getting it fixed.โ anytime I try to report the scam. I have sent emails to Facebook help , but no answer and it is quite answer they donโt care. Sad part is, as bad as the scammer is with his bs some one is going to get scammed and those rich, smug sobโs at Facebook donโt care.
Just to make sure I found it again โ While on a new tab shopping then switch over to the Facebook tab on the same browser and find the same product being advertised same company and same product on Facebook too, and on other day it did it again with different companies and different products again the same way each time โ Facebook on one tab and shopping on another tab and switching between tabs to find what I shopped for and see on Facebook.
I have seen Facebook show what I was shopping for, on a new tab, of the same browser I was using Facebook on several times, for example the same car battery on the same browser and new tab and kept showing me for several days not just once it was several products with same browser I was using Facebook on and new tab, each time it was a different product yet same product I was looking at on the new tab, they follow what you write while in Facebook and critique what is written, and when something nice is written about some one it will be twisted into hate and harassment, if you use the spell checker to help create a timeline post it will make errors and erase everything, and try to add pictures and words while writing being the subject.
I have been scammed 3 different times from Facebook ads. This last time I thought I researched what I was buying pretty good and was still deceived. The ad was for HeyDude shoes. It even looked like I was ordering from their website. I received a tracking # and everything. It wasnโt until the package was delivered to the wrong state that I learned it was a scam. HeyDude had no record of my order. I have lost hundreds of dollars because of these scams and I believe since they were advertised on Facebook that Facebook should be held accountable.
I was scammed 3 times by the fake Facebook ads. Target had the ad where you find the apple and you could win a gift card. I won the gift card and never received it. The person used the information and got into my Target account and stole my credit card to make purchases. Had to change my credit card. The other two scams were JCPenny and JCP. My orders never arrived. It was so convincing that these were outlet stores. Especially JCPenny.