Hundreds of thousands of euros are being stolen from victims by highly convincing fake traders, lured in by fake articles or videos featuring celebrities. Nearly 350,000 euros. That’s what an engineer lost in a particularly sophisticated investment scam, which he has been warning about for several weeks, as reported by France 2.
For this man, it all started with a fake web article, where a fake Jean Reno promotes the merits of a trading platform. The actor had already denounced the fraudulent use of his image by scammers in 2022.
Our ICI radio has also issued alerts multiple times about deceptive internet pages that impersonate real media outlets – Le Monde, Le Figaro, etc – and use the image of celebrities – Michel Drucker, Nagui, Elise Lucet, Gad Elmaleh, etc – to convince users of miraculous investments.
Contacted by a particularly convincing fake trader, the victim invests more and more money, reassured by seeing their gains rapidly increase on the platform. It is often when they try to recover their money that they realize the fraud. Losses can amount to hundreds of thousands of euros.
An interview or video of a celebrity promoting a miraculous investment should raise red flags. The videos are often doctored, created by artificial intelligence.
As for fake articles, it is advisable to always check the website address bar, and verify that it is the official site of the genuine media outlet whose logo is displayed. Another clue: these deceptive pages often do not allow users to click on any links – sections, suggested articles, etc.
