Billionaire Andrew Forrest Claims Facebook, His Name Used In Fraud

JAKARTA - Australian billionaire Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest has taken Facebook to court over a scammy cryptocurrency ad he alleged used his name to deceive victims.

The chairman of Fortescue Metals also accused Facebook of violating Australian money laundering laws. It claims that they are "knowingly profiting from this cycle of illegal advertising" which failed to be removed.

The initial trial in the West Australian Magistrates' court is scheduled for March 28, with a commitment hearing expected later in 2022.

Forrest filed suit under Section 10 of the Commonwealth Penal Code, with the approval of Attorney General Michaelia Cash.

According to the lawsuit, one Australian victim had lost A$952,000 after falling for the scam. Court documents state that the scam "defrauded victims of millions of dollars."

"This scenario plays out in a fundamental scam that uses Dr Forrest's name, likeness and reputation to find victims, who are often reported to be conned after believing that Dr Forrest is actually supporting an investment scheme," Forrest's attorney was quoted as saying by Cointelegraph.

Forrest's attorneys said that while they "do not know the exact number or identity of the individuals who were conned on the grounds of this heinous fraud, the scope of the losses was extensive."

They added that he had spent "hundreds of thousands of dollars" to stay away from scams since March 2019, when he first started promoting on Facebook.

The complaint claims that Facebook's access to user data has been a "major contributor to the proliferation of illegal advertisements, "fake news" and other unwanted internet material". Forrest added that Facebook's failure to remove the fraudulent ads was "very reckless."

A spokeswoman for Facebook's parent company, Meta Platforms, told The Australian they are taking a "multifaceted approach to stopping these ads" by detecting ads, blocking fraudulent advertisers and, in some cases, taking court action.

However, Forrest believes that the social media giant should do more to prevent scams from spreading on its platform. Since the scammers are mostly located overseas, Forrest said they "can't be easily tracked down."

He added that “the best way to protect Australians is to prevent Facebook – through criminal prosecution – from allowing itself to be used as a tool of crime.”

"Facebook has shown little desire to self-regulate or take basic steps to protect Australians from abuse of its platform by criminals and fraudsters, so I had no other choice but to take this action," Forrest said.