New York Prosecutor General Letitia James speaks at a press conference at the Prosecutor General's office on July 13, 2022 in New York.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty images
A group of 42 general prosecutors call Meta To curb the rise of investment scams on Facebook that fraudulently use the images of Warren Buffett and other famous people, the New York Attorney General said on Wednesday.
James said that in a press release, criminals are constantly escaping the Meta automated and human review systems to publish false advertisements that leave retail investors struggling with millions of dollars in losses. Her office continues to see the scams of the months after reporting them to Meta, she added.
Advertisements, praising access to Buffett, Elon Musk or Ark Invest Cathie Wood, attract Facebook users to join chat groups on the Meta-Constititée, WhatsApp messaging platform, according to the New York AG.
There, users are involuntarily involved in alleged pump and rescue projects, where criminals increase the barely negotiated stock price and quickly sell for a profit, leaving small investors with losses.
Meta, the Facebook parent company, Instagram and WhatsApp, has trouble controlling the rise of cyber-escroqueries on its platforms and is a “cornerstone of the fraud economy on the Internet”, reported the Wall Street Journal last month. The problem is of a global nature, a notable legal action being brought by an Australian billionaire who alleges that the advertising program managed by Meta's artificial intelligence has created and amplified false advertisements using its resemblance.
“Thousands of Facebook users have lost hundreds of millions of dollars to these scams and in meta must do more to prevent these fraudulent announcements from working on its platforms,” said James. “I direct a bipartite coalition calling Meta to intensify his examination of advertisements to stop these scams. I also urge all New Yorkers to be very careful before putting their money in investments they see announced on social networks.”
Source: Office of the Attorney General of New York State
The AGS has urged Meta to stimulate its police advertisements, including with more human examination, affirming that in less than they slow the scams, Meta should stop distributing investment advertisements completely.
James have joined states in states such as California, Connecticut, Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Andy Stone, spokesperson for Meta, said that the fight against scams requires collaboration between banks, governments, police and telecommunications companies.
“We are committed to doing our part: investing in technology to apply scams aggressively, in particular by testing the use of facial recognition technology, allowing people to protect themselves with warnings and tools on platform, educating consumers on common diets and forging partnerships through technology, banking and beyond to protect people against these criminals”, said Stone.