Japanese victims of celebrity investment scams isue Facebook, seeking reparations totaling $148,000

Tokyo: According to their attorney, four Japanese scam victims filed a lawsuit against Facebook on Thursday after falling for false online investment advertisements that used celebrity photos without permission.
The National Police Agency claims that damages of 27.8 billion yen ($178 million) were caused by online hoaxes that were shared on Facebook and other social media platforms in Japan last year.

According to their attorney, the four filed a lawsuit with Kobe District Court, requesting that Facebook Japan, a subsidiary of the US company Meta, pay damages totaling 23 million yen ($148,000).

The plaintiffs claim they were duped by Facebook advertisements featuring affluent personalities, such as Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, and promising large investment returns.

Maezawa, who founded the biggest online clothes store in Japan, shot to fame throughout the globe when he paid to go to the moon on a mission that SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, would eventually carry out.

Online scammers often utilize his picture without obtaining his consent; one such advertisement has the tagline, “Started with 10,000 yen.” 1.3 million yen were gained in only four days.

In the past, Maezawa has called on the Japanese government to intervene and said that he is collaborating with American attorneys to file a case of his own against Meta.

When AFP contacted Meta on the case in Japan, she was not immediately available to comment.

In this instance, the advertisements merely included images, but in other nations, more complex frauds have been seen that employ “deepfake” films of celebrities pressuring viewers to part with their money.