Martin Lewis became emotional on Good Morning Britain on Thursday about why he chose to take legal action against Facebook after they used his name and picture in misleading adverts. According to the finance expert, a grandmother had been scammed by one of the adverts while saving for her grandchildren after their parents had died. He explained: "The one that made me cry was on Rip Off Britain. They had a case of a grandmother. Her grandchildren's parents had died, she was looking after them, and she had put the money for them, for the grandchildren who had lost their parents, to one of these scammers. She finished that piece by saying, 'It's because I trusted Martin Lewis'."
Martin opened up about the scam
The TV presenter continued: "That's why I sued them, because I spent 15 years of my life trying to help consumers and trying to help people make the right decisions. I'm not always perfect but I do try and do the best. And these scams are still out there. Yes, I was angry and I was rightly angry. This is not some prosaic, 'I'm trying to fight scams', these are real people whose lives have been destroyed, and they are destroyed in some cases because they trusted me."
READ: Under-55s could soon receive £10,000 from the government with no strings attached
Martin reached a settlement with Facebook on Wednesday after it was agreed that the social media site would donate £3million to set up a Citizens Advice scams action project, the solicitor at Seddons who represented Mr. Lewis, Rory Lynch, said: "This ground-breaking defamation suit was pioneered by Mark Lewis and Seddons and reflects Martin's passion for protecting the public from scam adverts. Martin took on significant risk in order to make Facebook confront this pernicious practice. This action led to an innovative agreement that sets an important precedent for other industry players to follow."
READ:GMB's Kate Garraway in tears after Martin Lewis opens up about his mum's heartbreaking death