A QUEENSLAND retiree lost “almost everything” in an investment scam using Gina Rinehart’s Facebook image. Now, the mining magnate’s team is arguing that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg should be held accountable.
Gary, a former auto electrician, fell for the scam after seeing an online trading scheme advertised on Facebook.
“I started seeing these ads on Facebook and they had pictures of people like Gina Reinhart, Twiggy Forrest and Clive Palmer,” Gary said. . Yahoo Finance.
Have you ever been a victim of fraud? Contact us at tamika.seeto@yahooinc.com
The advertisements claimed that investors could earn huge profits with a small initial investment. The 70-year-old man said he was initially unsure if the ads were legitimate, but he continued to see them on the platform for several weeks.
“They had probably been there for six to eight weeks. They should have been removed by now, so I thought it must be real,” Gary said.
Gary had been retired for five years and was relying on his superannuation, so he was keen to see if he could increase his retirement income.
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Following the ad’s instructions, Gary eventually signed up for Rapidnex, a platform he believed Reinhart was endorsing. He also received a fake email that he claimed was sent from Hancock Prospecting and confirmed that his account had been activated.
Gary said he searched the company and found no “red flags.” It also appeared to have an Australian business number (ABN) attached.
Since then, Rapidnex has Flagged by ASIC As a suspected fraudster company used the details of another Australian company with a similar name.
Gary said he could log into his cryptocurrency account and presumably see how his money has increased and decreased and where it has been invested. He invested a total of $109,055 in his five trades.
It wasn’t until a few months later, when Gary tried to withdraw money, that he realized something was wrong and was told there was nothing in his account.
“It was all just a few thousand yen left over that I had kept in a savings account. I kept almost all of my super, luckily some of my super, but I took out quite a bit,” Gary said. said.
Gary was able to receive a small amount of money from the bank, but is now living on his pension.
“It’s changed my lifestyle quite a bit, that’s for sure. There are no holidays for me anymore,” he said.
Reinhart says Zuckerberg ‘must take responsibility’
In an effort to stop fraud using her image on Facebook, Reinhart wrote a letter directly to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, giving examples of fraud. He called on the tech giant to take “further action.”
“We wrote to Mr. Mehta and Mark Zuckerberg several times last year, pointing out that Elon Musk’s X has very few such fraud issues,” a Hancock spokesperson said. Ta. Yahoo Finance.
The spokesperson claimed that there was one scam involving Reinhart on X, compared to hundreds on Facebook during the same period.
“In our view, Mark Zuckerberg should be held accountable for his inaction and should pay restitution to all those who lost money as a result of the fraud he publicized.” said the spokesperson.
“We have several staff members to police these scams, but we also rely on people to write in in case our staff misses something.”
mining millionaire Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest filed criminal charges against Meta, calling it “criminally reckless” for allowing deceptive ads featuring Meta’s images to appear on its site. Mehta has pleaded not guilty to three charges of recklessly handling proceeds of crime.
Fortescue Metals’ executive chairman is also suing Mehta in California, where the company is headquartered.
Meanwhile, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission commenced legal action against Meta in 2022 over fraudulent advertising.
Meta has previously said it uses a variety of techniques, including machine learning and specially trained reviews, to reduce fraud. Yahoo Finance We have contacted the company for further comment.
A warning to other Australians
Gary said he felt “pretty lucky” to at least have some money, despite losing almost all of his retirement savings and pension. “There are many people who are in a worse situation than me,” he said.
He is now urging other Australians to avoid falling victim to the same scams and to be careful when investing online.
“I don’t believe anything on Facebook and I would never give my money to any company or business online,” Gary said. Yahoo Finance.
“If you want to invest, do it face-to-face with a broker in your city. I don’t even answer the phone anymore. If I see a number I don’t recognize, I don’t answer.”
Australians reported losing more than $8 million to online investment trading platform scams last year, with 400 reports made to Scamwatch.
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