Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1161926
11 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 1 SEPTEMBER 2019 NEWS MCAST: YOUR FIRST CHOICE Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology Administration Building, MCAST Main Campus Corradino Hill, Paola PLA 9032. T: 23987135/7136/7310 E: careerguidance@mcast.edu.mt www.mcast.edu.mt Time to succeed! JOIN MCAST APPLY ONLINE OR AT PAOLA/GOZO CAMPUS FROM 2nd until 8th September Download our online prospectus: www.mcast.edu.mt/mcast-prospectus-2019-2020 Apply online by visiting the MCAST website: www.mcast.edu.mt Should you have any queries regarding the Online Application process, you can call the MCAST Client Support Centre on 2398 7888 or visit us at MCAST Students' House, Main Campus, Paola from 02nd to 06th September between 08:30am till 13:00pm. Attack of the fake ministers: the real profile owners send out notice to their followers that their names and images are being used for fake profiles peddling online products and services YANNICK PACE THE police are investigating the appearance of a number of fake Facebook profiles pur- porting to be government min- isters and other officials, with the intention of scamming un- witting Facebook users. In recent months, several government ministers have up- loaded posts warning their fol- lowers on Facebook about fake profiles set up using their name and profile picture, which are sending messages to Facebook users. "The police have so far this year received 31 reports about unauthorised access to their social media accounts, all of which are being investigated," the police's cybercrime unit said in reply to questions by MaltaToday about the matter. Home Affairs Minister Mi- chael Farrugia, Tourism Min- ister Konrad Mizzi and former Equality Minister Helena Dalli, as well as a number of others have all experienced this form of identity theft. The police said that investiga- tions were still ongoing when asked whether the perpetrators had been identified. This week, Facebook users also started seeing sponsored fake news stories appearing on their timelines featuring a number of local personalities including Corinthia boss Al- fred Pisani. Similar posts targeted the Maltese population back in January when sponsored posts attempting to lure people into "investing" in cryptocurrency schemes that were supposedly endorsed by the Prime Min- ister and other government ministers, started to appear on Facebook. "Although one cannot iden- tify the ultimate objective of such posts prior to the suc- cessful conclusion of investiga- tions, it is most likely that the persons behind such fake pro- files/pages are aiming for some form of pecuniary benefit," the police had told MaltaToday back in January. The government had re- ported the posts to the police, saying that in addition to hav- ing "fraudulent intentions", the stories "cast a shadow by reporting untruthful facts". It insisted that it would not be taking the matter lightly. Industry sources said that both the fake sponsored posts and attempts to create fake profiles of well-known individ- uals were likely to be coming from the same source. The method employed by scammers is to coax people into providing sensitive details about themselves by using in- fluential figures, either endors- ing the scheme or, in the case of fake profiles, directly solicit- ing the information under false pretences. The police said they constant- ly send requests to service pro- viders such as Facebook when investigating such reports, nothing that "such fraudulent opportunities originate from overseas, sometimes from countries outside the EU". "Furthermore, the Police also contributes on a regular ba- sis to information regarding cross-border crime to Europol for analysis," the police had said. Police investigating fake profiles posing as ministers