Meta Apologizes for Fraudulent Ads Featuring Billionaire Wissam Al Mana

Qatari billionaire Wissam Al Mana reportedly emerged victorious in a legal battle against Meta over the unauthorized use of his image in cryptocurrency scam advertisements on Facebook.

Al Mana, a prominent businessman in the Middle East and the former husband of pop star Janet Jackson, alleged that these ads caused reputational harm, distress and embarrassment, the Financial Times (FT) reported Friday (Dec. 15).

Meta apologized to Al Mana and committed to providing him with additional protection, according to the report.

The case, which has been ongoing for the past three years, reached a resolution in a Dublin court Friday, the report said. Meta admitted that several false, misleading and defamatory advertisements featuring Al Mana’s image were published on Facebook without his knowledge or consent in 2019.

The incident highlights the common practice of both legitimate and fraudulent crypto ventures using social media platforms to attract customers with celebrity endorsements and promises of quick returns, per the report.

While Meta typically acts swiftly to remove fraudulent ads, concerns remain about scammers finding ways to bypass the platform’s checks, according to the report. The individuals behind the fraudulent ads in Al Mana’s case did not participate in the legal proceedings, raising doubts about their identities.

Al Mana, who manages his family-owned group in Qatar and holds exclusive distribution rights for luxury brands, argued that Facebook failed to implement effective measures to prevent further fraudulent ads from appearing after removing the initial set, the report said.

This is not the first time Meta has faced legal challenges regarding fraudulent advertisements, per the report. In 2019, the company settled a defamation claim in England by making a 3-million-pound (about $3.8 million) donation to an anti-scam charity and introducing new tools for users to report fake ads.

In that case, British personal finance expert Martin Lewis sued Facebook over online ads for crypto that reportedly used his likeness. Lewis said that more than 50 ads appeared on the social media platform with his likeness over the period of a year, promoting scams related to trading binary options — a “near-certain money-loser,” he said.