Australia's wealthiest individual, Gina Rinehart, has taken aim at Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, accusing him of failing to address the proliferation of scams and 'deceptive content' on his social media platforms, Facebook and Instagram.

Rinehart's accusations come in the form of a personal letter to Zuckerberg, in which she alerts him to the 'numerous scammers' exploiting her name and identity to 'fraudulently solicit money from vulnerable people'.

Rinehart alleged she has been the target of over 750 scams on Facebook in recent weeks, a stark contrast to the single scam she encountered on Twitter. The letter, dated 9 November, is not just a personal plea but also represents the concerns of other high-profile Australians. Among them are entrepreneur, Dick Smith, and billionaire property developer, Harry Triguboff, who have also seen their AI-generated likenesses misused in online scams.

The letter to Zuckerberg comes after Meta's apparent disregard for official complaints lodged by Rinehart's staff over several months. Rinehart's frustration is underscored by the National Anti Scams Centre's report, which reveals that Australians reported a record $3.1bn lost to scams in 2022, marking an 80% increase from the previous year.

Rinehart is not the first Australian billionaire to take on Meta over similar issues. Last year, Andrew Forrest initiated legal proceedings against the social media giant's parent company. Former Sunrise host David Koch is also pursuing legal action against social media platforms over fraudulent advertisements.

Despite Rinehart's plea, she has yet to receive a response from Meta. This silence coincides with reports from The Australian that Meta is planning to disband its Australian news partnership team. Read more details on The Australian here.