Scam
The modus operandi used by the fraudsters consists of purchasing advertising space on Meta platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, to display unexpected information concerning a known person, notes Me Samet. “It encourages users to click and it leads to a page that looks like the site of The Press, but with a completely falsified article. » The fake article explains how the person allegedly got rich through investments in cryptocurrencies or stocks. “People then invested sums of money in a program that is a scam,” says Me Samet.
Cannabis “gummy bears”
Sylvain Paquette, president, trainer in financial crime management and prevention at the Fraud Training and Prevention Academy, acted as an expert in this request for collective action. He notes that scammers have three ways of trying to scam people. “A scam involves pretending to sell a product, such as cannabis “gummy bears,” and then using credit card information to commit fraud. Another is to have an investment form filled out and then contact the person to suggest investing in crypto or stocks. Or even fraudsters accompany people who want to open an account to buy crypto and then hack their account. » Mr. Paquette points out that the fraudsters generally come from Eastern Europe, but that they have help in Canada and also, undoubtedly, in Quebec.
Amount stolen
One of the co-applicants is John Viens, a man from Beauce who was convinced by fraudulent articles to invest his money and who was robbed of the sum of $3,500 when he thought he was investing in cryptocurrencies. “This amount represents a significant sum for John given his low income, while he only benefits from a small pension,” notes the request. John is not the only one to have been abused in this way and is a direct victim of this fraud through the financial loss he suffers, the stress and the moral worries caused by this theft of money. »
“Covering up the fraud”
Meta noted that the terms and conditions governing its advertising service had not been violated and therefore, in its view, it is not responsible for the problems reported. Me Gérald Samet notes that Meta standards say “black and white” that advertisements must be transparent and verified. “They’re covering up the false information and they’re also covering up that there’s a link that goes to a falsified article. They will have to justify why all this is tolerated by their platform,” says Me Samet, who indicates that he is not the only one to make this request for collective action against Meta and who believes that a merger between several applicants is possible.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Host Marie-Claude Barrette
Collateral damages
Bruno Guglielminetti, host of the digital news podcast My notebook, notes that it is “interesting” to see a Quebec personality take the problem head on. “Also, a cheated person decided not to be ashamed and failing to be able to reach the criminals themselves, I find it remarkable that they go to Meta. This will make Quebec aware of the fact that there are frauds perpetrated on Facebook and Instagram, but also on TikTok. » Mr. Guglielminetti also deplores that the image of traditional media, like The Press, be mistreated in this whole affair. “The media are having image difficulties after the pandemic and we see that they are a bit of collateral damage from this fraud,” he says.
“Willful blindness”
Sylvain Paquette believes that Meta must take the matter seriously. “There are public figures who didn’t ask for anything and see their image tarnished, and Meta doesn’t lift a finger. Meta is able to target anti-vax messages, detect and block child pornography in Messenger, and block links to Canadian news media. But they can’t enforce their own advertising standards? In my opinion, there is willful blindness in this,” he says.
reference: www.lapresse.ca