A disinformation campaign massively distributed on social networks mixes false articles from the newspaper Le Monde with the image of journalist Élise Lucet, to potentially direct thousands of users towards platforms for purchasing cryptocurrencies fraudulent.
Riding on the popularity of Élise Lucet, and attempting to lend credibility to shameless disinformation by using the visual identity of the newspaper Le Monde, all for advertising purposes. This is the modus operandi of a “ coordinated campaign of malicious posts » denounced on X.com by the journalist from France 2, known for the broadcasts Cash Investigation And Correspondent.
This campaign aims in particular to promote fraudulent cryptocurrency platforms, reports France Info, which emphasizes that its viral nature on social networks could lead hundreds of thousands of users to visit these pages.
France TV and Le Monde file a complaint
This scam is in fact widely distributed on X.com (formerly Twitter), but also on Facebook and Instagram through sponsored posts, ranging from the simple doctored image of Élise Lucet, to more elaborate deepfake type publications. , this time taking advantage of generative AI to lend the journalist comments actually created from scratch.
Among the platforms to which “baited” users are redirected: the “Profit Rex” site, which is at the origin of this vast scam according to France Info.
The media, which contacted Élise Lucet, reports that the France Télévision group has filed a complaint, and that Le Monde plans to do the same. In many cases, the visual identity of the newspaper is in fact used by this campaign to more easily mislead users.
Other personalities have already been targeted…
France Info also indicates that the TF1 group could join France TV and Le Monde in also filing a complaint. And for good reason, its star presenter Yann Barthès was also the victim of a similar disinformation campaign in 2023, this time for the benefit of the fraudulent trading platform “Immediate Eurax IA”.
In recent months, many personalities (including Alessandra Sublet and Cyril Hanouna) have been the target of false advertisements and other deepfakes directly or indirectly promoting automatic cryptocurrency trading platforms, often promising immediate gains. Scams whose number has been boosted by the arrival of generative AI, but also by the lowering of moderation systems observed in particular on X.com.
Source : France Info
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