Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest ramps up beef with Facebook over fake cryptocurrency ads

Australia’s richest man Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest is planning legal action against social media giant Facebook because the company has so far failed to prevent a series of scam crypto ads using his name and image. The Daily Telegraph on Wednesday reported that Mr Forrest had repeatedly asked Facebook to better monitor its platform after a number of people had fallen afoul of scam ads, which appear as “sponsored posts” and purport to include details of Mr Forrest’s investment strategy. The clickbait ads, a number of which allege the Fortescue Metals Group chairman secretly made his $27 billion fortune via cryptocurrency trading, have irked Mr Forrest since 2019. Other variations of the scam feature the likes of actor Chris Hemsworth, media personality David Koch, ex-NSW premier Mike Baird and businessman Dick Smith. Now, after two years, the mining magnate has had enough and is reportedly in the process of bringing Federal Court proceedings against Facebook. The Daily Telegraph reported that the action comes after one woman was scammed out of $670,000 as a result of one of the fake Twiggy ads. The ACCC is aware of the ads and said legal action might be necessary. A Facebook spokeswoman told The Daily Telegraph that it was co-operating with ACCC.