Ads on Facebook direct people to fake news.

Can this be serious? A website is linked via a status message on Facebook; according to user information, this is even an advertising sponsorship on Facebook. If you click on it, the header looks like “ARD” and then comes an amazing story with Günther Jauch, Dieter Bohlen and a few other well-known people. They all supposedly praise a Bitcoin system and you are asked/encouraged several times to get into the system with €250.

Understood? No of course not. There is fake news behind these status reports. This isn't the first time we've explained this, so at this point we'll repeat what's behind these status messages, which can often also be found as sponsored ads on Facebook.

Screenshot Mimikama.at
Screenshot Mimikama.at

It is commercial fake news. After clicking on the teaser on Facebook, a website opens that presents itself in the form of a newspaper report. The website displayed is a pseudo-editorial article that is only intended to entice readers to click on the built-in advertising links.

On this website, which claims to be ARD and throws around familiar logos, you will find all the characteristics of “fabricated content” fake news. We therefore repeat again:

  • Commercial fake news contains pseudo-editorial content that has no truth and does not have to have any truth. Likewise, the content does not have to be related to the headline.
  • They present themselves in the form of a news website, which ultimately isn't one.
  • The content speaks to a desire/fear (in this case just desire).
  • The author doesn't care about the content, it's about displaying advertising or effectively incorporating advertising links

This is what it looks like:

The website itself has no imprint, no data protection information or other characteristics of origin. The article on the website is about presenting a product as effectively as possible. A Bitcoin trading model is heavily promoted in the text, but also next to it and below it. In the end, this also includes a large number of supposed user comments that report on how successful this model is. What looks like a high level of positive interaction is nothing more than part of the advertising scam.

Screenshot Mimikama.at
Screenshot Mimikama.at

If you follow the product links that are built into the pseudo-editorial text on the website, you will end up in an affiliate sales program. In the end there is a dubious Bitcoin trading method. This means whoever wrote the pseudo-editorial article is likely to have an interest in getting readers to sign up for this model. It is important that the fake story sounds as credible as possible in advance, but at the same time also has a high potential for virality.

Finally

And once again it is commercially operated fake news, and again users report that it appears as sponsored posts on Facebook. This means that Facebook of course earns money from it. What is particularly interesting about this commercially operated fake news is that in this case it was really used to the fullest. Fake celebrity quotes were even used to give the impression that it was also a celebrity system. The counterfeiters really didn't miss a trick.

Screenshot Mimikama.at
Screenshot Mimikama.at


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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )