Over the past couple weeks, ads declaring NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh had a "fatal accident" have appeared on several news sites, including the Edmonton Journal, The Associated Press and the Toronto Star. The ads, imitating news headlines and using an image of Singh, used a clickbait title, "Jagmeet Singh Suffers Fatal Accident On Live Television," and led to a website claiming Singh revealed a "shocking truth" on live television. The claims about Singh's death or revealing secrets on live broadcast are false. The NDP leader is alive and well. The ad links to a website posing as a news publication and promoting an investment scheme.
Social media users reported seeing the ads in several publications both and outside, such as and .
When ´ºÉ«Ö±²¥clicked on an ad found on , it led to an article on a website mimicking the Toronto Star. The landing page was "landerclub.co," which has since been taken down. The fake article is a transcript from a supposed interview between CTV host Vassy Kapelos and Singh, in which the NDP leader is talking about how to set up an account for passive income and "retire next week."
Rating: False
MP Heather McPherson , formerly known as Twitter, on Oct. 10, with text criticizing the Edmonton Journal for carrying the ads. "Great news for everybody to see," she says in the video, with the NDP leader stepping into the shot behind her. Singh chimes in, saying, "Turns out, I am alive."
The fake article, which includes the subheadline "Deleted interview with Jagmeet Singh," used screenshot images from of "Power Play," where Kapelos interviewed Singh on election interference.
In the video, Singh is wearing a dark blue blazer with white stripes, white shirt, black tie and dark mauve turban.
The image that leads the fake article has a time-stamp of 3:15 MT with a chyron that reads "Why is the government keeping this program a secret?" This is a doctored screenshot.
The chyron in fact reads: "Jagmeet Singh one-on-one." The ticker remains unchanged in the screenshot, reading: "Johnston to launch foreign interference hearing in July, calls allegations of bias 'quite simply false.'"
A Bell Media spokesperson confirmed the screenshots were taken from CTV's "Power Play."
“At CTV News we are concerned by any instance in which our logos, branding, or any image of our programs are used outside of our legitimate news coverage," the spokesperson said in an email. "When this happens we take appropriate steps to address the matter, consistent with our commitment to maintain the integrity of news in Canada.â€
Mock news site's false claims
On the right side of the mock website page were supposed testimonies from people who invested through the trading platform. Reverse image searches found the pictures paired with the testimonies were taken from other sites, including a and , and did not represent real investors.
The story claimed the Bank of Canada tried to censor the interview after "Jagmeet's 'accidental' words captured the attention of many viewers." The Bank of Canada is that functions separately from the federal government. The central bank also does not interfere with what news agencies report on.
The fake interview transcript describes an interaction between host Kapelos and Singh. The NDP leader seemingly helps the CTV host set up an account on the Trade i300 Duac app — a robo-investment platform — depositing $250 and making money within 20 minutes.
A quick Google search of the term, "Trade i300 Duac" turns up different variations of the platform name, including i400 Duac and i200 Duac.
The platform is not registered or flagged with .
Investment fraud warnings
Similar ads featuring prominent figures and politicians appearing to promote investment or get-rich-quick schemes have flooded social media and news sites in recent years. The ads usually take users to makeshift websites, mimicking news site logos and colours to instil legitimacy.
The ´ºÉ«Ö±²¥ Anti-Fraud Centre said in a news in May that cryptocurrency investment scams have been on the rise.
Investment fraud losses totalled $309.4 million in 2023, which represented the highest reported losses to the ´ºÉ«Ö±²¥ Anti-Fraud Centre that year, the national police service said. Other countries, , have been facing similar investment scam issues.
The Competition Bureau of Canada also warned people of cryptocurrency investment fraud, in March 2023 on how to avoid falling for such scams, including to take time to consider the deal and "be wary of 'too-good-to-be-true' investment offers."
Sources
X posts with screenshots of ads appearing in various news websites can be found (), (), () and ()
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