Martin Lewis is to sue Facebook over claims it has published over 50 bogus adverts bearing his name, many of which have been used to scam thousands of pounds out of people.
The MoneySavingExpert founder is due to lodge court papers at the High Court on Monday for a defamation lawsuit against Facebook.
He said the legal action was the result of months of frustration with scammers piggybacking on his reputation and preying on Facebook users with get-rich-quick scams.
Mr Lewis said: "There are customers who have lost a lot of money. Some of them won't even talk to me because they've seen my face on the advert and think it's me who has scammed them – it's an absolute disgrace.
"I've had enough of this. It's affecting my reputation, but more importantly it is affecting real people who are handing over money in good faith while the scammers are raking in the cash."
The television personality and journalist pledged that if he wins any money in damages, he will donate it to charity.
He said the action was not designed to win the defamation case itself but to force the company to change its policy on advertising, for example reducing the risk of such scams by having inbuilt settings notifying well-known people every time their image was used in an advert, requiring their approval that the post was legitimate.
Mr Lewis said: "I hope to open up a legal remedy for other people who have found themselves in the same boat.
"I don't do adverts. I've told Facebook that. Yet it simply continues to repeatedly publish these adverts and then relies on me to report them, once the damage has been done.
"I've got no idea how successful this legal action will be or how long it will take but I can't sit back and let it (scamming) happen. I'm trying to give Facebook a bloody nose and actually get some changes made – or at least get people talking about this."
Mr Lewis said he would be prepared to call a halt to the defamation claim if Facebook pledged to tackle the scam ads problem.
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Facebook said: "We do not allow adverts which are misleading or false on Facebook and have explained to Martin Lewis that he should report any adverts that infringe his rights and they will be removed.
"We are in direct contact with his team, offering to help and promptly investigating their requests, and only last week confirmed that several adverts and accounts that violated our advertising policies had been taken down."
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Sky News
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