Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna has announced a filing of a federal civil suit against Internet marketing company Adscend Media, accusing the Delaware-based firm of playing a key role in placing misleading links on Facebook users' sites.
Attorneys for Facebook, the reigning giant of social media, announced their own lawsuit against Adscend at a joint press conference with McKenna in Seattle Thursday, Jan. 26.
Asked if "scam" was too strong a word to describe Adscend's Facebook advertising ploys, Assistant Attorney General Paula Selis said no.
"I would definitely call this a scam," Selis said. "This company is misleading you into thinking you're getting a message from a friend."
But those messages are installed without that friend's knowledge, and their purpose is to promote some advertiser's product while generating revenue for Adscend on a pay-per-click basis, Selis and McKenna said.
Some of those messages, appearing on a Facebook friend's "wall" or status update, promise incredible deals on iPads, airline tickets or gift cards. At the press conference, Selis chose a different example: an apparent link to a video clip that entices with something like, "Omigod, see what happened to your ex-girlfriend."
"The natural reaction is to wonder why anyone would click on these links," said Selis, who head's the AG's Consumer Protection High-Tech Unit. "But, unfortunately they do, and at one point Adscend spam lined the defendants' pockets with up to $1.2 million a month."
The person who takes the bait and clicks the link will likely see what appears to be an age-verification page from Facebook, asking if the viewer is old enough to see the supposedly racy video, Selis said. If a person clicks on the "yes" button on-screen, they may be posting the link on their own Facebook news feed. Then, a "click here to continue" button appears. Clicking on that one could transmit the same misleading message to friends' newsfeeds, or may lead to a false notice saying that the user "likes" a product or service.
Eventually, a user may be directed to a site that is offering a product or service. McKenna said those advertisers may be unaware of how their website is being marketed via Facebook, and may also be paying Adscend for valueless "clicks."
In any event, McKenna said, the victim will probably never get to see the promised racy video. And they may be prompted to share valuable personal information via an online "survey." They may even be induced into subscribing to some kind of online service for a fee.
"We don't 'like' schemes that illegally trick Facebook users into giving up personal information or paying for unwanted subscription services through spam," McKenna said during a news conference at Facebook's Seattle Office. "We applaud Facebook for devoting significant technical and legal resources to finding and stopping scams as soon as possible - and often before they even start. We're proud to join forces in order to protect Washington consumers."
The Attorney General's lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle against Adscend and co-owners Jeremy Bash of Huntington, W. Va., and Fehzan Ali, of Austin, Texas. It alleges multiple violations of federal and state law.
The suit asks the court to enjoin the defendants from future violations, award damages and impose civil penalties, costs and fees.
Facebook's similar, separate lawsuit against Adscend and its owners was filed in federal court in the Northern District of California.
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