Facebook, Washington State Lawsuits Charge Adscend Media with ‘Likejacking’ Affiliate Marketing Spam

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Facebook and Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna filed lawsuits today (see below) accusing affiliate marketer Adscend Media, LLC along with company co-founders Jeremy Bash and Fehzan Ali of engaging in ‘likejacking’ a/k/a ‘clickjacking’ to deceive and trick users into giving out their personal information.

“Likejacking” describes the sleazy practice of tricking Facebook users into clicking a Facebook “Like” button that triggers a malicious activity, like posting a status update in order to spam them and their friends.

Both lawsuits accuse Adscend Media, Bash, and Ali of violating the CAN-SPAM Act.

Facebook also charged the three defendants of breach of contract by violating its Terms of Service (‘TOS’), violating the company’s trademark rights by diluting Facebook’s mark, and paying their affiliate marketers to use Facebook trademarks without consent or authorization.

You can read Facebook’s lawsuit below, and follow the case docket here.

Complaint Facebook, Inc. v. Adscend Media, LLC, et al.

Washington’s Attorney General McKenna also accuses the defendants of violating the state’s Commercial Electronic Mail Act and Consumer Protection Act prohibiting deceptive business practices.

You can read Washington State’s lawsuit below, and follow the case docket here.

Complaint for Injunctive Relief State of Washington v. Adscend Media, LLC et al.

Photo credit: D. Silliman



One response to “Facebook, Washington State Lawsuits Charge Adscend Media with ‘Likejacking’ Affiliate Marketing Spam”

  1. Industrylove says:

    There is no doubt that Facebook or any social network for that matter has scum spamming idiots taking advantage of their social platform. A place where most of us personally enjoy spending time, connecting with friends and family. FB is a great service regardless of where any of us stand on the current case pending, but that is not the issue at hand. Industry experts, keep your eyes open and ears receptive to the truth instead of being silenced by flashy corporate names and distracting lingo such as click-jacking, that you will clearly see all parties involved stand firmly against. Everyone is aware of the thankless hard work and dedication these networks: advertisers and affiliates put forth every day. From their tech teams to account managers, networks spend every waking hour trying to stay one step ahead of such activity by scammer(s) who try to make life and business a living hell. Further, Adscend Media received seventh place in the top ten CPA networks in the world this year, which is a direct reflection of their solid work ethics and dedication to their clients. I like to believe people are mostly good by believe that FB and the attorney general are simply misinformed as to how this activity ended up in their lap; any logical thinking individual, obviously would also believe this to be the case. That being said, the network in the same way would not be any more responsible for the scammer(s) any more than FB would be responsible for the scammer(s) who allegedly used FB to attack our friends/family. This apparently is a problem for even FB to stop. Networks spend exhaustive resources and devote extensive time to combating this type of garbage that is plaguing the rest of the industry as well, not only Adscend or FB. As we all know it is about being proactive and reactive just like we can assume FB does. When someone tries to take advantage of a network, should the scammer(s) slide under filters, traffic managers and all of the various check points needed in this line of business, most are reported directly to the networks. When notified of a possible issue the networks I have been involved with quickly research and resolve – usually via affiliate removal from the network when found non-compliant). It says FB at no time contacted the Network to allow them to investigate their own base for the accused activity and also removal of said user(s) if they exist. In essence the quote I read about the accuser not really being interested in notifying the network about the issue and leaving the spammer up on their network to continue this activity in my opinion is the a clear admittance that the accuser continued to let their own users accounts be compromised? Should users of FB also be bringing about a case for that since everyone seems to be trying to get a piece of Adscend’s $? How long exactly did FB allow their users to have their accounts compromised and further spread throughout their own social network? Hours? Weeks? Months? It seems everyone is trying to get a piece of Adscend’s $? Let’s think about more logic here: Do you notice FB has a tool that allows you to click on it and report spam on their social network? I myself use this feature daily, clicking on “report now” which by the way has not stopped any of the things I have reported (I’m keeping screen shots though in case it would help FB fix this, don’t worry it’s on the house). We are all aware of the math behind users vs. scammers vs. tech resources available, expecting perfection given those fact is just absurd. Here’s food for thought, why is that there is a double standard here expecting the Network to have the most advanced technology in the world to stop ALL such activity if FB is relying on all of us (their users) to report SPAM daily? The very same spam that may have or may not have slipped through the network involved check points. How is that different? If FB can’t even handle their own backend processes effectively and at 100%, then why would we hold a small network (any network) to a higher standard? I hope that the intelligent thinkers out there figure out how they can help each other instead of waste time with public spectacles for free PR. Lastly, why does everyone seem to have no interest in working together to find these spammer(s) if they exist, instead of repeatedly attacking the pawn in any schemers game, just as FB & the network are also pawns. While FB wastes their money focusing on another pawn or even the state of WA wasting more tax dollars, the real culprit(s) get further and further away. Does anyone really want to catch scammers and eradicate spam to make our social interactions more enjoyable and secure or is taking the long route by knocking everyone down on your way just more profitable? Makes you wonder eh.