The Statement
AAP FactCheck examined a Facebook stake featuring a photograph of Hollywood actor and director Mel Gibson above a headline reading “ How Mel Gibson ’ s Latest investment Has Australians Making Up To $ 63K A Month ” .
The post, shared vitamin a recently as November 25, appears hundreds of times on a public group page named “ SPECIAL REPORT ? : Mel Gibson ’ s Latest Investment Has Experts in Awe And Big ” ( sic ) .
Each example of the post tags about 50 other Facebook accounts .
The post links to a page designed to look like a news program report about Gibson ’ s “ latest investment ” and repeating the photograph of Gibson, which besides has an gusset effigy of television host Waleed Aly and the logo of Aly ’ s TV picture, The Project.
The article on the page is titled, “ SPECIAL REPORT : Mel Gibson ’ s Latest Investment Has Experts in Awe And Big Banks Terrified ” .
A Facebook post falsely claims movie star Mel Gibson revealed a cryptocurrency “wealth loophole” that can make people into millionaires.
The Analysis
Mad Max actor Mel Gibson has had a leading Hollywood career but has he truly turned his attention to the cryptocurrency boom ? AAP FactCheck ’ s investigation would suggest he absolutely has not .
The article in wonder has an ABC News logo – from the australian Broadcasting Corporation – in the top leave of the page but the page URL – in this example “ mirrorau.com/gibson/ ” is not a genuine ABC yoke .
The article claims Gibson appeared on The project and “ announced a new ‘ wealth loophole ’ which he says can transform anyone into a millionaire within 3-4 months ” .
It goes on to claim Gibson told Aly about his “ number one money-maker ” which was “ a new cryptocurrency auto-trading program ”. Aly ’ s name is misspelled as “ Ali ” throughout the textbook .
The name of the alleged deal plan, Bitcoin Revolution, is hyperlinked and leads to a page of the lapp mention which urges people to sign up and put $ US250 into an account .
AAP FactCheck searched The Project ’ s Facebook archives and the lone exemplify found of Mel Gibson being on the program was a November 2017 interview for his then newly movie, Daddy ’ s Home 2 .
Virgin boss Richard Branson has warned about online scams claiming to be linked to him, labelling them “fake” and urging people to report them.
The article then lists a supposed “ ABC NEWS EXCLUSIVE WITH MEL GIBSON ” with a photograph of Gibson bearing an ABC News logo .
AAP FactCheck traced the visualize and found it is a screenshot from an interview Gibson did on the US ABC News ’ television show, Good Morning America, in 2016, where the director spoke about his experiences on directing his son in Hacksaw Ridge .
The aim news narrative besides claims the Bitcoin Revolution cryptocurrency is “ backed by some of the smartest technical school minds to always exist. Richard Branson, Elon Musk and Bill Gates just to name a few. ”
Virgin boss Mr Branson and Microsoft founder Mr Gates have publicly said they are not promoting any “ get-rich schemes ” and have warned people not to fall for scams .
“ Stories linking me to get-rich-quick opportunities such as binary trade and cryptocurrency schemes often appear on websites via links advertised on versatile social media sites and paid for ads. These are imposter news stories, ” Mr Branson said in the statement .
Among other fake elements, the purported news article shows a screenshot of a post featuring two young men standing beside a gift-wrapped Ferrari and a claim that a crypto trader bought the sports car for his brother with his profits. The photograph is in fact taken from a video produced by enormously successful US YouTube personalities the Dobre Brothers about them buying a Ferrari at “ age 19 ”. There is no associate to the consumption of cryptocurrency.
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The imposter ABC article besides claims an “ editor ” tested out the cryptocurrency deal plan .
The ABC in Australia warned people about a bitcoin victimize masquerading as a news story in April 2019 .
“ The victimize ads are tagged as ABC articles, have pictures staged to look like ABC TV screenshots and include quotes under the headline ‘ ABC NEWS exclusive ’, ” the broadcaster said .
“ These articles are wholly fabricated. We encourage our audience to exercise caution when reading social media advertisements and articles concerning cryptocurrencies which bear the ABC logo. ”
The photograph of the “ editor program ” used in the article – of an australian chauvinistic family at a beach – has appeared multiple times online dating second to 2014, not as an editor program but as a promotional image on migration and english language education sites .
The article ends with a bit-by-bit scout on how to “ endow ” and a large yellow “ Register immediately ” button that links to another page which asks people to sign up with their personal details .
alike Bitcoin victimize ads have besides featured celebrities such as television receiver presenter and vet Dr Chris Brown, farad ormer NSW premier Mike Baird and Fortescue Metals Group chair Andrew Forrest .
The Malta Financial Services Authority ( MFSA ) issued a warn about Bitcoin Revolution in October 2019, calling it a “ ‘ get-rich-quick ’ cryptocurrency victimize ” .
Cryptocurrencies, a shape of electronic money, have emerged over the past ten and some have risen precipitously in respect but authorities such as the Australian Securities & Investments Commission have warned that there can be risks involved with trade or investing in them .
The Verdict
Based on the testify, AAP FactCheck found the Facebook position to be false. Mel Gibson has not appeared on The project to spruik a get-rich-quick crypto system, and the australian Broadcasting Corporation, Virgin boss Richard Branson and Microsoft fall through Bill Gates have all warned about such schemes after being named in false articles. The supposed news article about Gibson is falsely presented as an ABC article and presents images taken from other sites in presuppose examples of success stories .
False – The chief claims of the content are factually inaccurate .
first published November 27, 2019, 16:28 AEDT
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