A luxury-car dealer in Westchester County, New York, has filed a lawsuit against Meta Platforms, Inc., seeking to unmask an anonymous online troll who has allegedly been harassing and defaming him and his family through an Instagram account. The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, claims the rogue account, "charliegray.scammer," has been publishing false statements and private photos since December.
Charles Gray, who previously helped operate his father's now-defunct dealership, Respect Auto, alleges that the Instagram account has subjected him to a relentless campaign of intimidation. Posts on the account have reportedly called him a "fraudster" and a "scammer," and have targeted his wife, labeling her as "complicit in fraud."
One post, accompanied by a photo of Gray's wife's hand adorned with jewelry, allegedly states, "Another s--t ring... Paid for with stolen money from Charles' victims or by Charlie's mommy who still pays his bills. Imagine being 40 and this is all you can get." Another post, featuring a photo of Gray, reportedly read, "My morals are as s--ty as this haircut & im 40 and live w my mom so theres that too."
The suit claims the account has posted private photographs of Gray and his wife, including wedding pictures and vacation snapshots, some of which Gray asserts were only stored on his phone and cloud backup and had not been shared with anyone. One such post, overlaid with text, described the couple as "scammers and frauds enjoying nobu malibu on stolen funds."
Gray's lawsuit asserts that the "Scammer Account" has also tagged other luxury-car dealers, as well as Gray's friends and family members, in its defamatory posts. A recent post allegedly declared, "YOUR DAUGHTER IS MARRYING A MAN WHO IS A KNOWN FRAUDSTER and is millions of dollars in debt."
While Gray states he has a viable cause of action for defamation against the account's user(s), he needs Meta to provide account logs and IP records to identify the individual. The lawsuit suggests a potential culprit: a former friend, Tomás Mayer De Paulo. Gray alleges that several photos posted by the troll were shared exclusively with De Paulo via WhatsApp, and one such photo was "liked" by De Paulo in their private chat before appearing on the Instagram page.
According to the suit, Gray and De Paulo have been embroiled in a dispute over a $2 million loan from De Paulo's family firm, intended for the purchase and resale of a Ferrari Daytona SP3. The "Scammer" account reportedly fixates on this specific supercar, taunting Gray about "imaginary SP3s." While Gray has repaid a portion of the loan, an outstanding balance is currently the subject of litigation in Florida civil court.
Meta and the Instagram account did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Gray's lawyer declined to comment on the ongoing case.