FAKE CBC News Lures Victims Into Fake Investments

Fake CBC news is circulating on social media platforms and trying to lure people into fake investment schemes. The fake news attracts attention with lurid and exaggerated headlines about the Canadian election and other political development.

CBC News is the largest broadcaster in Canada.

In January, CBC reported on a similar scam. Scammers used fake articles to lure victims into participating in the well-known investment scam Quantum AI. However, other recently-emerged scams have evolved, with the content being replaced with recent events.

A fake news article on Facebook falsely claimed to be published by CBC News and promoted a ‘zero risk’ cryptocurrency investment scheme. The ads directed visitors to fake investment trading platforms and then encouraged them to deposit hundreds of dollars to participate.

It's worth noting that the tricks used in these scams are very similar to Quantum AI.

After CBC News contacted Meta, Facebook's parent company, several Facebook accounts associated with the scam have been disabled. Meanwhile, CBC News also contacted Tucows, a Toronto-based domain name registrar, and deactivated one of the fraudulent websites.

Meta's ad database, Ad Library, listed some of the fake ads and also removed part of them, according to CBC News.

Online investment scam is becoming an increasingly common and sophisticated problem. In 2024, investment scam cost Canadians $310 million.