Facebook sues Adscend Media for malware and spam
Facebook and the state of Washington have filed separate lawsuits against West Virginia-based Adscend Media LLC, alleging the company was responsible for spreading malware through Facebook and for stealing personal information from users of the social networking site.
The suits, filed in U.S. district courts in Santa Clara, Calif., and Seattle, respectively, contend that the defendants operated an advertising network that misled users into clicking on links that they thought would deliver certain types of content, such as videos or surveys, but instead installed malware on their systems and stole private information. The suits also claim that Adscend was aware and encouraged its affiliates to engage in this activity.
The Washington suit also alleges that the activity violates the state's Commercial Electronic Mail Act (CEMA) because Adscend aided its affiliates. The complaints named Jeremy Bash and Fehzan Ali, as well as Adscend Media, as defendants. In a post on the Adscend Media website, the company called the allegations “absolutely and unequivocally false.” But the company pledged to stop working with any affiliates that may have been involved.
