Class Action Lawsuit Names Zynga, Facebook As Defendants

This week a federal class action lawsuit was filed that names both social game operator Zynga and the social network Facebook as defendants. The suit seeks to obtain upwards of $5 million in damages for users of social network games who lost money as a result of accepting misleading or fraudulent ad offers in exchange for in-game virtual currency. The suit was filed by Kershaw, Cutter, and Ratinoff, a firm that specializes in class action lawsuits. 

The lead plaintiff in the case is a woman named Rebecca Swift, who was ultimately charged over $165 as a result of accepting a "free" ad offer in exchange for YoCash usable in Zynga's YoVille virtual world. Even though Zynga's ad offers were provided by outside firms, the suit claims Zynga is liable because it knowingly displayed fraudulent offers and accepted leadgen payouts when users accepted fraudulent offers. Facebook is a defendant for much the same reason. 

The case seeks damages as neither Zynga nor Facebook have taken steps to compensate the plaintiffs for funds lost. Instead both companies have simply taken steps to remove ad offer scams from their respective networks. The original case filing estimates the financial damages likely suffered by each member of the class at $100 to $300. Given that the suit is seeking $5 million, the size of the class can be estimated at 20,000 to 50,000 people.  

[via Valleywag]

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