Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1070939
8 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 13 JANUARY 2019 DAVID HUDSON HEARD how Maltese actor Davide Tucci made €2.3 mil- lion after his bankruptcy? Or of Rebels MC 'president' Alex Vella's bitcoin fortune? Chanc- es are you've seen a sponsored advert all over Facebook spe- cifically aimed at Maltese us- ers. A spate of adverts has been appearing over the past month on Facebook with specific messages aimed at a Maltese audience, plugging Bitcoin platforms. The ads employ the use of well-known political and entertainment figures, with promises of fortune and riches to the unsuspecting public. Tucci himself took to Face- book to tell people that he does not have any association what- soever with the sponsored ads. "Allegations of bankruptcy are serious. I have worked so hard over the last few years to build a name and a career for myself as an actor, and for my name and image to be used by such scammers is utterly disgust- ing," he said. This is not the first time that Tucci's name and image have been used on Facebook, having previously reported fake pro- files of himself asking for illicit pictures and credit card details from several Facebook users. This time, Tucci took the fake advert seriously and re- ported it to the Cyber Crime Unit. The ad claims that Tucci made €2.3 million, leading us- ers to a well-crafted article that features stills from the One Breakfast show, quotes Mal- tese personalities, and is pur- portedly written by one Anton Sacco, a Maltese name. The writing becomes tackier as you scroll further down with giant red buttons asking us- ers to "join the Bitcoin revo- lution", with fake comments from readers saying how "mil- lions were made overnight". Once users "sign up to the Bitcoin revolution", they are taken to a page asking them for credit card details and an initial minimum investment of €250. The police's cybercrime unit told MaltaToday that they are aware of such schemes and that they are on the rise. "Most of the time investigations are initiated after someone has drawn the Police's attention to such issues through a for- mal report. There have been instances where the report was lodged by the person being im- personated." The CCU said that in the first nine months of 2018, it was involved in 314 investigations related to fraud, an increase from 193 cases during the same period the previous year. "Although one cannot identi- fy the ultimate objective of such posts pri- or to the s u c c e s s - ful con- clusion of investigations, it is most likely that the persons behind such fake profiles/pages are aiming for some form of pecuni- ary benefit," it added. Earlier in the week, even the government reported fake adverts featuring the administration to the po- lice. In a statement, the government said that it would not take such mat- ters lightly. "The stories not only have fraudulent inten- tions, but also try to cast a shadow by reporting untruth- ful facts," the government said. The fraudulent adverts have slipped past Facebook's de- fences at a time when the so- cial media website has banned all ads that promoted financial products and services. Chanc- es are that after Facebook re- laxed its initial ban to allow pre-approved advertisers to promote their services on the website, scammers have found a way to exploit the updated policy. It is very likely that real people are being used, rather than bots, to concoct these very specific adverts: they are smart and informed on Mal- tese culture. The latest scams featuring Davide Tucci even use screenshots from Maltese television programmes and purport to 'quote' One Group television presenters Wayne Sammut and Elaine Degiorgio. The two presenters filed a police report themselves af- ter the spam article featur- ing their names and pictures started doing the rounds on Facebook. "It must be pointed out that such 'opportunities' are not something new but, rather, an evolution of similar scams that have been around for a num- ber of years. These types of scams are commonly referred to as 'like farming' since they are intended to dupe as many users as possible into liking their page to give them more credibility," the police told MaltaToday. It added that it constantly sends requests to service pro- viders such as Facebook in the course of its investigations. "Past investigations have in- dicated that such fraudulent opportunities originate from overseas, sometimes from countries outside the EU. Fur- thermore, the Police also con- tributes on a regular basis to information regarding cross- border crime to Europol for analysis." In this case, however, who- ever is behind the very specific, detailed and relatively well- written advert has done a good deal of research, quite possibly with a Maltese individual be- hind the malicious posts. NEWS Malta's water scarcity problem is a major component of the island's vulnerability Expression of Interest The Malta Council for Economic and Social Development (MCESD) invites relevant candidates to express their interest in participating in a pool of experts to assist in both social and economic research for the various sections of the entity. Terms and Conditions for the expression of interest may be obtained by email on info.mcesd@gmail.com The submission date is till noon of Thursday 31 st January 2019. Late submissions will not be accepted or considered. Facebook scams invade Maltese politics and entertainment Well crafted Bitcoin scams on Facebook using popular names and faces to lure readers into investing in cryptocurrency