Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
PENMAN A SMACK IN THE FACE
I’ve laid into Google Ads many times for putting investment frauds at the top of search results.
Take bestisaforyou.com, which lures victims with promises of 6% returns and is promoted by Google Ads. That’s despite using the same address and phone number as PB Specialists Group, which was added to the scams alert list published by the Financial Conduct Authority on March 18.
Facebook isn’t much better, even though its Community Standards boast: “In an effort to prevent fraudulent activity that can harm people or businesses, we remove content that purposefully deceives, wilfully misrepresents, or otherwise defrauds or exploits others for money or property.”
Really?
Facebook refused to delete two accounts that were targeting savers even after their websites were added to the FCA scam alert list.
One is comparebonds.org, which claims: “Compare 100% capital protected Fixed Rate Bonds”, then contradicts this in small print admitting that bonds “are not usually covered by the Financial Services Protection Scheme”.
They can’t even get that last name correct, it should be the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. The other account belonged to bond-compare.com, which promises bonds with “High street beating rates”. In the case of both sites, the FCA warns “be especially wary of dealing with this unauthorised firm”.
Yet Facebook refused to remove the pages run by these scammers even after being told they’d been added to the FCA’S list of shame.
“It doesn’t go against one of our specific Community Standards,”
Facebook ruled.
Twitter user Consumer Grapes, who highlights money scams, posted: “Despite being informed about this, and after several reports alerting them to criminal activity on their platform, Facebook has yet again said that this behaviour does not go against their community standards.” Facebook finally removed the pages after I approached them but did not explain why it previously refused to do so.
Instead it issued a general statement reading: “There’s no place for fraudulent or inauthentic activity on Facebook and we have removed the pages brought to our attention.
“We block millions of fake accounts every day through a combination of technology and human review, and we have donated £3million to Citizens Advice to deliver a UK Scam Action Programme.”
‘‘ Facebook had refused to delete two sites targeting savers