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Scam Ad Suit Targets Facebook

Facebook and gaming startup Zynga are the defendants in a federal class-action lawsuit filed this week seeking upwards of $5 million for social network users scammed in online game ads. The Sacramento-based firm of Kershaw, Cutter & Ratinoff has reportedly been looking for victims of scam ads in games like Mafia Wars and Farmville to potentially file a class action suit. The firm's suit has now hit federal district court in Northern California.

Neither Zynga nor Facebook actually originates the ads in question, according to The Business Insider. Instead, other companies take out ads in Zynga's games, which run on Facebook's network, and the two companies make what is reported to be large sums of money from the offers. Some of the ads are largely believed to trick users into signing up for unauthorized cell phone charges or expensive mail-order products like educational CDs, typically by disguising them as "free" offers or "free trials," or as part of an "online quiz."

Read the whole story at Business Insider »

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