- One Australian victim lost $952,000 AUD after falling for the hoax.
- Meta might face penalties and be forced to modify the way it advertises.
Billionaire Andrew Forrest of Australia has filed a lawsuit against Meta for allegedly defrauding people using his identity in fraudulent cryptocurrency adverts. He claims that Meta “knowingly profits from this cycle of illegal ads” that it failed to remove and accuses Meta of breaking Australian money-laundering laws.
The first court appearance is set on March 28 in the Western Australian Magistrates court, and a committal hearing is likely later in 2022. With the approval of Attorney General Michaelia Cash, Forrest is pursuing the charges under Part 10 of the Commonwealth Criminal Code. According to the documents, one Australian victim lost $952,000 AUD after falling for the hoax.
Testifying Counterfeit Coin Scam
They went on to say that he has spent “hundreds of thousands of dollars” to separate himself from the fraud since it first began being advertised on Meta in March of 2019
The Aussie Billionaire said:
“Facebook has shown little appetite to self-regulate or take basic steps to protect Australians from the misuse of its platform by crooks and scammers, so I’ve been left with no other option than to take this action.”
If Meta is found guilty by the Australian courts, it might face penalties and be forced to modify the way it advertises. In September, the businessman filed a second injunctive-relief case in the Superior Court of California. As of right now, the civil lawsuit has not yet been scheduled.
Celebrities such as Kate Winslet and Forrest Gump were erroneously cited as testifying the legitimacy of a counterfeit coin in 2019. Bogus mainstream news stories quoting celebrities were used to promote a fake crypto investment platform.
