Meta sues fake customer engagement service provider

San Francisco: Meta (formerly Facebook) has filed a lawsuit against Chad Taylor Cowan for providing a fake engagement service directed at Facebook.

Cowan operated a website that provided fake reviews and feedback to businesses in order to artificially increase their Customer Feedback Score.

Operating as "Customer Feedback Score Solutions," and using the website cfs.solutions, Cowan provided fake reviews and feedback for businesses to artificially increase the Facebook Customer Feedback Score and evade Meta's detection and enforcement against misleading ads.

"In this particular case, in exchange for payment, Cowan used a network of fraudulent and hired Facebook user accounts to provide fake customer reviews to artificially increase Customer Feedback Scores, drown out and minimise negative reviews, and avoid our enforcement," Meta said in a statement.

These actions create poor experiences for people who see these ads, deceptively influencing and misleading our community, the company added.

Through this lawsuit, Meta is seeking damages and injunctive relief for Cowan's violation of its Terms and Policies, and to stop fake reviews on its technologies.

"We take measures to mitigate against scams and the sale of unsafe products -- including the enforcement of our terms and policies for both commerce and ads, said Meta.

Meta analyses feedback on an ongoing basis to understand people's experiences on its technologies.

As part of this work, some people receive surveys after clicking on ads to help understand whether the quality of the product they purchased met their expectations.

This survey data, along with other information, informs a business' Customer Feedback Score.