Images of the website that cloned HotNews. Photo source: MAI video capture
The Ministry of Internal Affairs is warning on Monday, February 23, of an attempted fraud in which a clone of the HotNews website is being used to promote a fake investment. “It's a scam and you risk losing large sums of money. You won't win anything,” warn the authorities, who also emphasize that investigations have been started in this case.
“The official page of one of the most famous news sites in Romania has been cloned and a fake interview with one of the directors of a Romanian bank is presented. In this fake interview, citizens are presented with an extraordinary opportunity to earn tens or hundreds of thousands of lei as a pension with a minimum investment of 1,300 lei,” says a representative of the Ministry of Interior, on the institution's Facebook page.
The published materials fraudulently use the HotNews image to convince people to share their personal data.
“It's fake. You won't get a penny back”
Specifically, at the end of the material, the public is invited to fill out a form, through which they can provide those behind these scams with their personal contact details: name, surname, email address and phone number. The authorities warn that this should not be done.
“If you read the so-called interview, you will reach a point where it will be explained to you that if you want to join the project, you must fill in your personal data and it is possible that you will be called by one of the project managers, who will ask you to deposit an amount of 1,300 lei. (…) Basically, you provide all the data they need to contact you and provide you with an account to transfer the amount for the so-called huge pension, an amount that will go into their accounts”, explained the MAI representative
For credibility, those behind the scam attempt have attached fake comments of people who say that they participated in this project and won a large amount of money.
Those who are going to deposit that amount of 1,300 lei, must know that they will not get any lei back,” the MAI representative warned.
MAI investigates and warns people that it's “a scam”
The MAI representative says that investigations are already underway in this case.
“Colleagues from the specialized structures have already started investigations in this case. We also make this material to inform you that if you find this article it is a scam and you risk losing large amounts of money. You will not win anything,” he added.
Images of the fake website cloning HotNews, along with the fake comments:
