Money-saving expert Martin Lewis has spoken out again about the impact fake Bitcoin ads on Facebook are having on people, arguing that it is “life-destructive.”
Enough is Enough
Lewis is the founder of consumer help site SavingMoneyExpert.com and is also a journalist and TV presenter based in the U.K.
In April, he launched a lawsuit against Facebook. He claimed that in the past 12 months the social media site had published around 50 fake Lewis adverts involving crypto and other get-rich-quick-schemes that were seen by millions of people.
At the time, he said:
Enough is enough. I’ve been fighting for over a year to stop Facebook letting scammers use my name and face to rip off vulnerable people – yet it continues.
He remains locked in discussions with the site to settle out of court. Now six months later, Lewis has spoken out again about the issue of fake ads.
In a report from Business Insider, Lewis argued that people are considering suicide, adding:
The impact on peoples mental health of losing their retirement funds, or losing their children’s, children’s money that they thought they were investing is catastrophic and life-destructive.
He went on to say:
People who say, ‘I’ve lost all my retirement funds, I don’t know how to live, I don’t know how to go on.’ People crying their eyes out. From my perspective, these people say, ‘I only did this because I trusted Martin Lewis.’ You can see how I feel about it.
Before Lewis is prepared to settle, he wants Facebook to issue an apology and deliver a substantial change in the way it deals with fake adverts. Ultimately, though, he wants things to be put right, particularly to those who have been impacted by the scams.
Facebook states that they are continuing to work with Lewis at removing fake ads. It also plans to hire around 20,000 people by year’s end.
Facebook Ad Ban
Back in January, Rob Leathern, Facebook’s product management director, announced a new policy that prohibited “misleading or deceptive promotional practices” related to ICOs and cryptocurrencies. The move saw it joining the likes of Google and Twitter.
However, in June, Facebook revealed it was allowing some crypto ads.
Some advertising is still banned. Yet, it shows a partial reversal on the market’s advertising abilities. Of course, with the likes of Lewis continuing to call Facebook out, it’s clear that it still has a long way to go to solving the issue of scam ads.
Have you been affected by a fake crypto ad? Let us know in the comments below.
Images courtesy of Shutterstock.