An Australian regulator has decided to sue Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: FB), alleging the Facebook parent engaged in false or misleading cryptocurrency advertisements.
What Happened: The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) alleged on Friday that Meta published advertisements featuring notable Australian public figures, which promoted cryptocurrency investments and schemes that were “scams.”
“It is alleged that Meta was aware that the celebrity endorsement cryptocurrency scam ads were being displayed on Facebook but did not take sufficient steps to address the issue,” the ACCC said in a statement.
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Why It Matters: The ACCC said those ads were continually displayed on Facebook even after the public figures had said their names and images were being used without their consent.
In February, Australia’s richest man, Andrew Forrest, filed a criminal complaint against Meta, alleging its platforms were being used to scam Australians.
Cryptocurrency scammers made nearly $8 billion from global investors in rug pulls and other scams. On Thursday, Benzinga reported on cryptocurrency giveaway scam run by a person or persons impersonating Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk. The scammers were asking for coin such as Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), and and Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) from their would be victims.
Price Action: Facebook shares closed 2.1% higher at $207.84 in the regular session and fell 0.5% in the after-hours trading.
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