‘Wolf of Wall Street’ wannabe ‘duped Facebook into ad scheme’ | New York Post
A baby-faced “Wolf of Wall Street” wannabe duped Facebook into approving pricey advertising lines of credit that the Brooklyn college graduate later sold off for big bucks, a new lawsuit charges.
Sports-car-loving Martin Grunin — who told his St. Francis College student paper last year, “Money drives me completely” — convinced Facebook reps to open advertising accounts with high limits for him, according to the federal suit filed Wednesday.
He then flipped the social network’s ad space for hundreds of thousands of dollars while Facebook didn’t see a dime, according to the suit, filed in San Francisco.
By the time Facebook sent out their bills, Grunin, 22, had already cleared about $350,000 for the online ad space, the suit estimates.
“I’ve gotten so used to just being able to go anywhere without looking at any price tags,” Grunin boasted to his college paper in an article that featured him looking every bit Gordon Gekko in suspenders and tie as he sat in a flashy orange Lamborghini he’d rented.
In 2012, Grunin contacted Facebook reps and posed as a staffer for marketing firms like Imprezzio Inc. in order to open the sham accounts.
‘I’VE GOTTEN SO USED TO JUST BEING ABLE TO GO ANYWHERE WITHOUT LOOKING AT ANY PRICE TAGS.’
- Martin Grunin
He even backed up his claims with falsified bank records and doctored e-mail addresses, according to the suit.
Facebook security eventually shuttered 70 accounts related to Grunin, court papers state. The company also hand-delivered a cease-and-desist order to his father’s Manhattan Beach home. Grunin lives at home with his father, who declined to comment.
“It’s his business. I have to talk to him now about what’s going on because I just got the news,” the dad said.
But Grunin had plenty to say to his student newspaper during his final year at St. Francis.
“Obviously I didn’t graduate from Harvard or Yale . . . but I have more experience than them,” he said. “They may have gone to great schools and done terrific, but they don’t have anything near the experience I have.”
