Coronavirus: Company accused of using family’s photo in Facebook ad, falsely claiming they had died

A California mother is speaking out after she said a company used one of her family photos in a Facebook ad that falsely claimed she, her husband and two of their children had died from coronavirus.

A California family says their identities were stolen and used in a Facebook ad for a company selling a protective mask that claimed to have saved the youngest son in a family of five from Covid-19 https://t.co/VDLLynxKGZ
— CNN (@CNN) April 16, 2020

According to CNN, Sara Ancich, 45, said a family member contacted her last week after he came across the advertisement for FilterMax face masks. The video ad included an 8-year-old photo of Ancich's family with the caption: "Youngest son from a family of five is the sole survivor from the deadly pandemic after wearing a CDC-approved respirator."

Ancich, who saw the ad Sunday, told KCBS-TV that the experience was "upsetting" and "violating."

"Who would have the audacity to clearly not know a family and type that they had died?" she asked the news outlet.

As the ad circulated on Facebook, Ancich said she received several messages from loved ones asking if her family was OK. Although she reported the video, it continued to make the rounds, she told KCBS.

Facebook later removed the ad after KCBS contacted the social media site.

"We apologize to the family impacted by the video," Facebook said in a statement to CNN. "We've removed it and have taken steps to keep people from sharing it."

CNN said it could not determine which company launched the ad because several businesses operate under the FilterMax name. The network reportedly contacted multiple websites that sell the masks, but they did not respond.