While Meta has removed access to news content across Canada, the company behind Facebook and Instagram is ignoring fraudsters who impersonate media outlets like The PressCTV and The world.
Since August 2023, in the wake of federal Bill C-18 – which aims to force “web giants” to compensate the media for sharing their articles online – all Canadian news has been blocked on Meta’s social networks. All? Some, entirely false, manage to find their way to users. And Facebook accepts money from this “sponsored” content from pirated pages.
Advertisements that come and go invent in particular an interview that host Normand Brathwaite allegedly gave to his colleague Guy A. Lepage on the set of Everybody talks about it. “His statements in front of everyone affected his life. Is this the end of all his merits? », we ask in an improbable catchphrase attributed to The Press under the title “Global scandal: an unexpected confession”.
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Fake news attributed to The Press involving Normand Brathwaite
According to the report of the so-called interview, Mr. Brathwaite allegedly found a loophole in the global monetary system to enrich himself through cryptocurrency.
“During a lively discussion, Guy A. Lepage questioned the veracity of Normand Brathwaite’s comments, calling him a liar in front of thousands of live viewers,” says the misleading text. “In response to this incident, the management of the television channel decided to remove the interview from the air, refusing to comment on the situation and the behavior of Guy A. Lepage. »
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The fraudsters borrowed the environment of The Press.
The bogus article leads to a page where a “trading platform” is touted that allows you to earn “between $850 and $2,100 per day” in exchange for an “investment” of more than $300. The ultimate goal of fraudsters is to land Internet users on a fake transactional site where banking information is requested.
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In the bogus article on Normand Brathwaite, Ky Harlin, data scientist (BuzzFeed, Condé Nast), appears under the fictitious name of Martin Walsh, “editor of The Press “.
“My guy’s brother Belle and Bum invested $300 in it, says Normand Brathwaite, contacted by telephone. That’s how I learned it. Another person also told me that she had put money in. »
In social networks, victims explain that they have been victims of telephone “harassment” from several international numbers following their deposit.
“Crude” scam
Mr. Brathwaite, who stays away from Facebook, emphasizes that this type of ploy is “sad” both for the victims who take out their wallets and for the personalities who try to be faithful to their values.
When I sign contracts, we don’t just do anything. I find this deeply insulting because even if I knew what bitcoins were, and even if I had made money, I wouldn’t talk about it publicly.
Normand Brathwaite, in interview with The Press
The host Guy A. Lepage, for his part, has already been involved in a similar fraud alongside Marie-Claude Barrette, as highlighted in a report published in September in The Montreal Journal. He wonders how people can get involved in such a “poorly done” and “gross” scam.
Guy A. Lepage is nevertheless surprised to see this “pathetic” fake news survive on Facebook and Instagram unlike authentic content. The host is also one of the personalities who are participating in an “irreverent” advertising campaign by 12 Canadian media outlets to “raise public awareness of the fact that Meta’s blocking of news weakens our media.”
As part of this awareness-raising effort, news as false as it is unusual lures users towards informative capsules – these ones true – from journalists Noémi Mercier and Pierre Bruneau.
Elsewhere in the world
In English Canada, a deception equivalent to that involving Normand Brathwaite borrows the environment of the CTV television channel and summons sometimes the host and chef Mary Berg, sometimes the actor and producer Howie Mandel. Caricatured images even simulate their arrest following “scandalous” revelations.
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Fake news attributed to CTV involving Howie Mandel
In France, it is Anne-Claire Coudray and Michel Drucker who are the subject of a false report attributed to the newspaper The world. In Belgium, it is rather the singer Natalia Druyts who serves as a hook through a false article in the Dutch-speaking daily Het Laatste Nieuws.
In publications intended for Quebecers, the web address www.lapresse.ca is displayed misleadingly. However, unlike real daily reports, this fake news had no trouble sneaking onto Facebook. Posts appear in full form in the Meta Advertising Library.
The sponsored content comes from a Facebook page attributed to photographer and storm chaser Mike Olbinski, who has nearly 100,000 followers. The American account is now managed from Vietnam and Indonesia, according to transparency information posted by Facebook.
PHOTO MIKE OLBINSKI, TAKEN FROM HIS FACEBOOK ACCOUNT
American photographer Mike Olbinski
“My page has been hacked for two months now,” says the real Mike Olbinski via email, who says he paid to subscribe to Meta Verified and get more support. “I didn’t receive any help,” he regrets. “In her emails, Meta tells me that she is investigating, but nothing changes. Although the page posts scam after scam after scam, they do nothing. It’s disgusting. »
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Despite a bunch of email exchanges with Meta Business Support, Mike Olbinski is unable to regain access to his professional account, now in the hands of fraudsters.
Internet users contacted The Press to find out if Normand Brathwaite’s comments Everybody talks about it were authentic.
By means of a reporting form, the dispute of The Press asked Meta to “take the necessary measures to ensure that no user in the Facebook community can use the name, brand and logo of The Press in the context of a fraudulent advertising publication.
Since the URL address provided by The Press points to external content, “you may wish to contact the third party responsible for the reported material to resolve your issue directly with them,” Meta replied. Similar reports in the past, notably for false news attributed to The Press and featuring Ontario chef Michael Bonacini, did not bear fruit.
Meta had not responded to our requests for information at the time of writing. The company explains on its website, however, that it “prohibits ads that include false information because this practice goes against Community Standards.”