Social media giant has not responded to warnings that the “platform continues to be used to lure gullible buyers of counterfeits”
September 20, 2021 — Three major numismatic organizations that sent a letter to Facebook executives to complain that the social media platform “has become the predominant choice of some fraudsters” are disappointed with the lack of a response by Facebook and the continuing appearance of pop-up advertisements selling counterfeit coins. No response has been received in the month since the letter was sent.
The Anti-Counterfeiting Educational Foundation (www.ACEFonline.org), Numismatic Guaranty Company (www.NGCcoin.com) and the Professional Numismatists Guild (www.PNGdealers.org) sent their joint letter on August 19, 2021 to Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder, chairman & chief executive officer. Copies were also sent to Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Kara Sandberg and chief revenue officer at the time David Fischer.
“We are disappointed and frustrated that Facebook, for whatever reason, has failed to even acknowledge our important letter while hundreds of pop-up ads selling counterfeits or touting inaccurately or misleadingly described replicas continue to appear on their platform,” said Bob Brueggeman, PNG executive director. “ACEF, NGC and PNG jointly offered to assist Facebook to detect and help prevent these kinds of fraudulent ads, but there’s been no response.”
Mark Salzberg, Numismatic Guaranty Company chairman, stated: “NGC was founded, in part, to combat counterfeit coins in the marketplace. The coin collecting hobby is safer now than ever before, but we unfortunately face a new and serious threat from counterfeiters who are using social media to take advantage of unsuspecting buyers. NGC hopes to have the opportunity to work with Facebook to help banish these unscrupulous sellers from its platform.”
Doug Davis, ACEF Director of Anti-Counterfeiting and a former Texas police chief, stated: “The Anti-Counterfeiting Task Force has identified Facebook as a major platform utilized by counterfeiters and criminal organizations to sell counterfeit coins and precious metals. It is critical that Facebook executives recognize the criminal abuse of their platform by crooks who are preying on unsuspecting and uneducated victims who have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars. But most importantly, the misuse of the Facebook platform undermines the integrity of the U.S. monetary system.”
Here is the full text of the joint letter signed by Davis, Salzberg and Brueggeman.
Facebook Joint Letter