EXCLUSIVE
Australia’s richest person has criticized Facebook billionaire Mark Zuckerberg for profiting while ordinary Australians are scammed out of their life savings online.
In her latest scathing attack on the company’s lackluster response to social media scams, Gina Rinehart said Facebook’s parent company, Meta, should have to refund users who had been victims of fraudulent ads on the platform.
The mining magnate said Elon Musk had shown the scourge of online scams could be defeated after effectively “eradicating” dodgy Twitter profiles, and accused Facebook bosses of failing to take any real action.
“I have been urging action on this for several years,” Ms Rinehart told Daily Mail Australia.
‘Elon Musk’s platform has managed to almost eradicate the scam problem, so why not Facebook?
‘They have taken too long and done too little to solve this problem.
Gina Rinehart says Mark Zuckerberg’s social media platforms should refund users who fall victim to fraudulent ads that continue to proliferate on the sites.
Mark Zuckerberg, pictured with his wife Priscilla Chan, and his company, Meta, have received constant criticism for doing “too little” to crack down on social media scammers.
‘Facebook has made money from advertising revenue while allowing Australians to be scammed and suffer.
“Apologies aren’t very helpful, but sending the money Facebook has received to those they have helped cause suffering would be a useful start.”
Ms Ginehart’s comments come after Meta announced this week that it was working on a suite of new systems designed to crack down on unscrupulous online scammers.
Meta vice president of content policy Monika Bickert said the measures included the immediate global expansion of a facial recognition test designed to identify (and block) fraudulent fake celebrity ads.
“Scammers often try to use images of public figures, such as content creators or celebrities, to entice people to interact with ads that lead to fraudulent websites where they are asked to share personal information or send money,” he said.
‘This scheme, commonly called ‘celebrity baiting,’ violates our policies and is bad for the people who use our products.
‘Of course, celebrities appear in many legitimate advertisements. But because celebrity bait ads are often designed to look real, it’s not always easy to spot them.
Just one of hundreds of scam posts online posing as Australia’s richest person
Rinehart says Elon Musk proved that social media platforms can defeat the scourge of fraudulent celebrity ads after the billionaire removed thousands of dubious Twitter profiles.
‘We will attempt to use facial recognition technology to match the faces in the advert with the public figure’s Facebook and Instagram profile images.
“If we confirm a match and that the ad is a scam, we will block it.”
He said the technology would not be used for any purpose other than combating online fraud.
“We immediately remove any facial data generated from ads for this one-time comparison, regardless of whether our system finds a match,” he said.
Meta has been criticized for years for failing to stop scammers from posting fake celebrity ads on the social media platform, with Ms. Rinehart being a particularly prominent and long-standing critic.
The billionaire philanthropist wrote to Zuckerberg last November urging him to do more to remove the thousands of fake ads proliferating on his social media sites.
Former A Current Affair presenter Tracy Grimshaw also criticized fake celebrity adverts.
“Across Meta, numerous scammers have falsely used the names of prominent Australians such as Harry Triguboff, Dick Smith and myself, in an effort to fraudulently solicit money from vulnerable people,” he wrote.
‘There are scams that have also deceptively involved the names of high-profile media personalities from Channel 7, Sky, Channel 9 and others, wrongly using them in scams in an effort to scam money from innocent people.
‘In the last few weeks, I have had over 750 scams on Facebook, compared to just one on Twitter in the same time period.
‘Greater action is needed to prevent scams and intentionally fraudulent content from being available and advertised to millions of Australians.
‘In a very common trend, real Australians are losing their hard-earned money, including a widowed Queensland pensioner who was scammed out of more than $150,000 out of her retirement savings and retirement in 2022.
‘In another example, an Australian lost $40,000. Innocent Australians are falling victim to job scams via Facebook.
Popular Today show host Karl Stefanovic, pictured with his wife Jasmine, also had his identity stolen and misused by unscrupulous online scammers.
‘Victims often face the heartbreaking prospect of losing their homes and life savings, leaving individuals and families in a state of distress and despair.
‘Beyond the tangible losses of billions of dollars, the emotional and psychological cost is enormous.
‘There was (last November) a scam underway wrongly using Tracy Grimshaw, a high-profile media personality in Australia, and me in a fake news story encouraging Australians to invest A$40,000 in a program of fake software to generate income.
“This scam (had) been active on Meta platforms in one form or another since January 24, 2023, despite being reported.”
Grimshaw and other high-profile TV celebrities, including Karl Stefanovic and David Koch, also criticized Meta for failing to take appropriate action against scammers who illegally misuse their identities in fake ads.
However, Meta said its new facial recognition program would solve that problem, expanding the scheme to include the faces of 50,000 global celebrities in the coming weeks.
“Early tests with a small group of celebrities and public figures show promising results in increasing the speed and effectiveness with which we can detect and act against this type of scam,” the company said.
Former Sunrise host David Koch has called on Meta to take immediate action to crack down on online scammers.
The company said public figures would receive a notification in the app warning them that their faces had been automatically included in the program, although they could opt out at any time.
“We have also seen scammers impersonate public figures creating fake accounts, with the goal of tricking people into engaging with fraudulent content or sending money,” the company said.
‘For example, scammers may claim that a celebrity has endorsed a specific investment offer or request sensitive personal information in exchange for a gift.
‘We currently use user detection and reporting systems to help identify potential imitators.
“We are exploring adding another step to help find this type of fake account faster.”
