Clarke Gayford's name and image have been used in the scams. Photo / Michael Craig
NZH 20Jan21 -
Clarke Gayford's name and image have been used in the scams. Photo / Michael Craig
NZH 20Jan21 -
Television personality Clarke Gayford has been targeted by scammers who are running Facebook ads disguised as fake news articles in a bid to dupe Kiwis – and Meta, Facebook’s parent company, is monetising the bogus posts.
Over the past two months, scammers have spent money with Meta to run ads on Facebook by creating fake inflammatory news articles about Gayford, while impersonating the New Zealand Herald.
The ads, described as celebrity endorsement investment scams, are designed to trick Kiwis into clicking on a link, redirecting them to the fake news article that acts as a pre-sale landing page for the scam.
The page details how the celebrity, in this case Gayford – the husband of former Prime Minister Dame Jacinda Ardern – among other well-known Kiwis, recommend how to make money fast, encouraging the user to click once more into the scam’s landing page.
From there the victim provides personal details – and as a result, they can lose thousands of dollars.
The scammers have used fake stories about Gayford, radio personality Simon Barnett and Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking, erroneously claiming their careers have come crashing down. Newstalk ZB is owned by NZME, which also publishes the Herald.
One fake headline read: “Tragic end for Clarke Gayford! This morning’s news shocked all New Zealanders.”
The caption also said “Allegations against Clarke Gayford have been proven. Jacinda Ardern calls it unforgivable.”
The ads, described as celebrity endorsement investment scams, are designed to trick Kiwis into clicking on a link and redirect them to the fake news article that acts as a pre-sale landing page for the scam.
Other scams fabricated that Gayford performed a prank that “led to tragedy”, while more fake ads and stories claim to present an article about a “deleted” Gayford interview.
Gayford speaks out
The scam is so widespread and persistent that it led to Gayford addressing the issue publicly after some Kiwis wrongly accused him of being involved in the plot.
“It’s been brought to my attention that these are being taken seriously by some people,” he said in a video that highlighted some of the fake stories the scammers had written.
”Some have accused me of being involved in it and [asked] why I haven’t done anything. I actually approached a lawyer and it’s like this giant game of whack-a-mole... If you do see that or it pops up or friends ask you about it, it’s a scam. Don’t click on it. Ignore it. Starve it of attention and it should go away.”
Speaking to the Herald, Gayford said the lack of action from social media companies to tackle the issue of scammers and impersonation is “frustrating” and irresponsible.
“I find it incredibly frustrating that there is no simple recourse to get it taken down. I had chosen to ignore them but started to get what look like genuine messages from people who have engaged with the scam so needed to at least say something.
“The lack of responsibility the social platforms have for this sort of activity helps no one, including themselves, in the long run.”
BNZ warns customers of scam
The scam has caught out so many Kiwis that BNZ released its own warning to clients in April. They warned of scams where fake news articles claim the company is suing Mike Hosking for providing “too good investment advice”.
The scammers also used this fake story with Gayford’s name replacing Hosking’s.
BNZ wrote: “We’re aware of an investment scam circulating on social media channels of a fake New Zealand Herald story claiming BNZ is suing Mike Hosking for providing ‘too good investment advice’.
“The fake story then directs readers to an investment firm (the name changes but the current one is LPL Investments) to complete a Trading Account form or to download an .exe file which downloads remote access software on the customer’s computer. To encourage customers to download this ‘remote access software’, they are offered assistance in filling out the Trading Account form.
“This is a scam.
“By downloading the .exe file, the scammers will have full access to everything on the computer and can monitor the use of the computer. When the customer next logs into internet banking, the scammer will have full access to bank accounts.”
Following months of the fake ad campaigns, numerous readers contacted the Herald, confused about the seemingly legitimate articles.
Some admitted they were close to falling for the scam after initially believing the story was real.
A reader last week said they registered with the scam, handing over his name, number and email address.
The scammers kept calling him, asking him to subscribe. The man said he was close to giving out his credit card details before realising it was a scam.
Meta has been approving ads from scammers who are running fake news stories to act as a window for Bitcoin scam.
How Meta monetises the scam
The tactic and threat used by scammers is called FizzCore or CelebCore and has become a common ploy across Meta’s platform Facebook.
The Herald and some of its media personalities have been targeted for several years, but a recent spate of fake news stories and ads has exploded since May 20. Despite efforts by the Herald requesting Meta shut down these scams and stop taking scammers’ money, nothing has yet been done.
How is Meta allegedly making money off these scams?
The scammers pay Meta for ads that promote and push their content on Facebook to audiences around New Zealand and the globe, the same way media publishers and other businesses promote their own goods and services.
Meta was approached for comment last Friday.
The Herald asked the social media giant what was being done to stop scammers using the Meta platform and why scammers were still able to purchase ads.
Meta has since responded, with a spokesperson explaining the gravity of the situation and revealed the steps they are taking to tackle scammers.
“We have removed the scam ads for violating our policies. Scammers present a challenge in many environments, including social media, and they are constantly finding new ways to deceive people,” a Meta spokesperson said.
“Meta adopts a multi-faceted approach to tackle scams. We use both technology, such as new machine learning techniques, and specially trained reviewers to identify and action content and accounts that violate our policies.
“In the first quarter of 2024, we removed 631 million fake accounts globally. We partner with local organisations to educate consumers to spot and avoid scams and bring enforcement action against scammers.”
As of June 21, all fake ads impersonating Gayford have been deleted.
Some Kiwis have reported the scams to Meta whenever they appear, but claim Meta hasn’t adequately dealt with the problem.
A person responding to Gayford alleged they had reported the scam to Meta and the social media giant replied saying the ad was “investigated” and but did not breach the company’s terms of service.
At the time the Herald searched Meta’s ads library records on June 12, there were hundreds of scam ads that had been approved and were active, with the latest scam ads approved by Meta as recently as June 16.
On June 12, it appeared a number of these ads had either ended or been deleted. However, on June 16, a range of new ads featuring Gayford were approved and active.
A screenshot of Facebook's ad library shows a number of ads that were approved by Meta. The ads approved are fake news stories that were generated by scammers. The latest ad appears to have been approved on June 12, 2024.
How FizzCore scams work
According to information security experts, FizzCore scams are able to cloak deceptive ads and trick ad approval systems into accepting their requests as legitimate.
They can submit a safe image that goes to a legitimate link to get their ad approved. Once approved, they swap it out with the fake creative and dodgy link to begin their attack.
From there, they use shocking imagery and headlines, and impersonate legitimate news corporations to trick readers into thinking it’s a real story.
They generally choose an inflammatory news angle, pick high-profile media personalities and delve into conspiracies to generate high click-through rates.
According to experts, many of these scams can capture more than a million dollars’ worth of revenue in one campaign.
With such sizeable returns, it allows scammers to rebuild their infrastructure and return to the same platforms a week later to implement the same scams.
Some campaigns will last only hours before being shut down but have already captured enough money to justify further attack campaigns.
NZME’s tussle with Meta and scammer impersonation
NZME has attempted to get Meta to take down the ads and prevent scammers from spending money on the social media platform to impersonate the Herald’s website,nzherald.co.nz, as well as current and former NZME media personalities.
NZME said because the issue of scammers and other copyright infringement was so widespread, the company had hired an external company with expertise to assist in having content removed.
NZME indicated its frustration with Meta’s lack of engagement and interaction over the growing problem.
“We regularly report ads like this to Facebook but we’ve had little engagement from them, and it’s disappointing more isn’t done to prevent such ads from running in the first place,” NZME said.
In 2022, Australia’s competition watchdog filed a lawsuit against Meta alleging the social media giant failed to prevent scammers using its platform to promote fake ads featuring well-known people.
Mining magnate Andrew Forrest also filed a lawsuit and accused Meta of breaking Australia’s anti-money laundering laws by allowing third-party scammers to use its software and platform to advertise fake cryptocurrency schemes that feature photos of his face, leading people to believe he had endorsed them.
