Wissam Al Mana, Qatari billionaire, and ex-husband of American musician, Janet Jackson, has taken the Menlo Park-based social media platform, Facebook, to court over alleged crypto scam ads using Al Mana’s image.
The Qatari business magnate becomes the latest victim whose image has been used fraudsters to sell bogus crypto investment schemes. Law enforcement agents around the world continue to warn investors of these elaborate cryptocurrency scams promising massive returns.
Qatari Billionaire Takes Facebook to Court
According to The Times, Al Mana brought a suit against Facebook for defamation, after a crypto platform used the billionaire’s image to promote their illicit scheme on the social media platform. Al Mana filed legal action against Facebook in Dublin, Ireland.
The Qatari business magnate does not own any social media account, according to a statement on the billionaire ’s website, wissamalmana.com. Furthermore, the website states that any social media account claiming to be Al Mana’s and uses his picture “should not be quoted or used as a source of accurate information”.
Al Mana is not the first to sue Facebook regarding crypto scam ads. Another billionaire, John De Mol, creator of the ‘Big Brother’ television show, dragged the social media giant to court after bitcoin scammers claimed that the fraudulent scheme had the blessings of Dutch billionaire.
De Mol’s lawyers argued that Facebook allowed the ads using De Mol’s image on its platform and stated that the fake crypto platform had already stolen almost $2 million from unsuspecting investors. The court later ruled in favor of De Mol and instructed Facebook to remove the ads or face a heavy monetary penalty.
Recently, bitcoin scammers have also used the image of the British TV host and financial expert, Martin Lewis, to promote a fake article purportedly published by the Mirror, this time, on Instagram. Earlier, Lewis hit Facebook with a lawsuit for allowing crypto fraudsters to use his image to swindle investors.
Celebrity Crypto Scam on the Rise
Despite the legal actions initiated by celebrities and personalities regarding fake celebrity crypto scam, these bad actors do not seem to relent.
As reported by Blockonomi back in August 2019, Singapore’s regulatory body brought the public’s attention to fake crypto scam ads that claimed to have the backing of the country’s former Prime Minister, Goh Chok Tong.
The fraudulent bitcoin scheme took to its website to publish a fake article from Chok Tong and also asked investors to deposit an amount of money for crypto trading.
Also, scammers used the names and images of Karl Stefanovic, and Waleed Aly, Australian TV presenters, to promote a bogus bitcoin project, claiming that the celebrities were involved in the project.
Furthermore, in June 2019, bad actors falsely claimed that Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, endorsed the fraudulent project. Unsuspecting investors were told to deposit AED 1000 to get huge returns in seven days.
Hollywood A-list actress, Kate Winslet, sought legal action against a group of bitcoin scammers who put up a fake BBC interview with Winslet. The fake interview claimed that the Titanic actress stated that she got most of her money by investing in the fraudulent bitcoin investment scheme called Bitcoin Code.
Apart from impersonating celebrities, these scammers have also spread their fraudulent tentacles to include government agencies. Last June, some bitcoin swindlers impersonated the U.K regulatory agency, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and sent fake emails to deceive people into investing in the fraudulent scheme.
