Taking Action Against Fake Customer Feedback and Reviews

• We’ve filed a lawsuit against an individual for providing a fake engagement service directed at Facebook.
• Chad Taylor Cowan operated a website that provided fake reviews and feedback to businesses in order to artificially increase their Customer Feedback Score.
• We work to protect the integrity and authenticity of our technologies; individuals or businesses that seek to deceive people will be held responsible.

As part of our ongoing efforts to protect against and deter ecommerce abuse, today Meta filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California against Chad Taylor Cowan for breach of our Terms and other claims for providing a fake engagement service directed at Facebook. 

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.

Meta analyzes feedback on an ongoing basis to understand people’s experiences on our technologies. As a 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, the shipping was timely, and to learn more about their customer service experience. 

This survey data, along with other information, informs a business’ Customer Feedback Score. If a business receives a significant amount of negative feedback, we may take a number of enforcement measures, which could include ad restrictions, financial penalties or disabling accounts. 

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 minimize negative reviews, and avoid our enforcement. These actions create poor experiences for people who see these ads, deceptively influencing and misleading our community. This is also a direct violation of Meta’s Terms, Advertising and Page Policies, as well as California law.

Through this lawsuit, Meta seeks damages and injunctive relief for Cowan’s violation of our Terms and Policies, and to stop fake reviews on our technologies. Our actions are a clear signal that we will work to protect the integrity and authenticity of our technologies and that individuals or businesses that seek to deceive people will be held responsible. 

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. And we will continue to build on our efforts to ensure our technologies remain a safe space for people to discover new products and help small businesses grow. 

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