HRH Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud has accused tech big Meta of “turning a blind eye” as faux accounts impersonating his sister, HRH Princess Reem bint Alwaleed, brazenly defraud Gulf residents on Fb and Instagram.
Dozens of fraudulent pages, he mentioned, are utilizing Princess Reem’s title and picture to solicit small money “investments” – usually as little as AED 100 – from weak GCC residents. Regardless of documented complaints, Meta has did not acknowledge his crew’s reviews.
“When there’s a actual downside, like fraudulent dangerous actors taking unsuspecting individuals for cash, out and out conning them brazenly, social media firms declare not to have the ability to handle the issue,” Prince Khaled informed Arabian Enterprise.
“I’m rather well versed with expertise, and these firms have astounding capabilities. To state in any other case is de facto simply taking us for a journey.”
Prince Khaled mentioned Meta’s regional operation focuses nearly completely on gross sales, with little or no funding in person security.
“The social media firms solely set up salespeople right here within the area,” he mentioned. “They don’t trouble organising belief and safety arms as a result of they’re solely involved with profiting off of our digital pursuits.”
He mentioned his communications crew compiled and submitted an in depth file of fraudulent accounts throughout a number of platforms. Whereas Snap and X responded instantly – “each doing clear sweeps” – Meta “went utterly silent.”
Prince Khaled mentioned: “And that is somebody like me who has a full communications and digital crew. What does an individual do in the event that they don’t have a crew to cope with this? They’ll do nothing. They’re victimised they usually haven’t any hope of getting assist. The place is the dedication to the area? The place is the dedication to the individuals?”
He added TikTok’s response was additionally initially insufficient – “they despatched us an info web page and did nothing else” – although its coverage crew later took motion after what he described as “a variety of backwards and forwards.”
Prince Khaled requires tighter controls
Prince Khaled has now known as on regulators in Saudi Arabia and the UAE to research the platforms’ dealing with of impersonation and fraud, saying their “take-take-take” relationship with the Gulf should finish.
He mentioned: “They make extraordinary sums right here, however in terms of defending our residents, they disguise behind excuses. It’s time for accountability.”
Meta reported income of $62.36 billion in 2024.
Former Meta Head of Coverage for MENA Ashraf Zeitoon echoed the prince’s criticism, telling Arabian Enterprise firms like Meta “have all of the sources, human, monetary and technical, to deal with the problem” however lack the need.
“They may simply deploy instruments equivalent to IP handle blocking to stop scammers from creating new accounts,” Zeitoon mentioned. “However their belief and security groups within the GCC are underdeveloped, and monetary fraud merely doesn’t sit on their precedence checklist.”
Meta didn’t reply to a request for remark from Arabian Enterprise.
