Manhattan DA Bragg urges Meta to help stop immigration scams on Facebook, WhatsApp

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is urging Mark Zuckerberg to help stop immigration scams from proliferating on Meta’s platforms, marking the second time in recent weeks that a New York City prosecutor has sought to hold a social media company accountable for residents’ safety. Bragg wrote in a letter Thursday to Meta CEO Zuckerberg that “imposter accounts” pretending to offer legal services are increasingly using Facebook and WhatsApp to target unsuspecting victims and convince them to send money. The scammers often imitate real organizations and lawyers, even using their logos to create the appearance of credibility, the letter said. Victims have lost tens of thousands of dollars as a result of these scams, Bragg said. Meta’s terms of service for users prohibit conduct that is “unlawful, misleading, discriminatory or fraudulent,” but the DA argues the company is enabling “bad actors” to steal from vulnerable immigrants via its platforms. “Facebook specifically provides an option for reporting what it describes as ‘impersonating profiles,’” he wrote. “However, we have spoken with at least two institutional leaders of pro bono legal services organizations whose requests to remove false profiles were declined despite following this reporting protocol.” Bragg called on Meta to help crack down
Read More