Connect with us

Crypto

Fact-check: Videos show public figures promoting MaltaCoin, a new cryptocurrency

Published

on

Fact-check: Videos show public figures promoting MaltaCoin, a new cryptocurrency

Claim: Videos show leading Maltese public figures promoting a Central Bank-endorsed crypto scheme.

Verdict: The videos use audio deepfakes to deceive viewers into investing in a scam.


Neither Arnold Cassola nor Edward Scicluna are promoting a new digital bank and cryptocurrency launched by Malta’s Central Bank, and entrepreneur Martina Zammit did not invest in the bank, as the latest crypto scam doing the rounds would have you believe.

The three feature in a series of manipulated videos alongside several other people, including Times of Malta assistant editor Mario Xuereb.

One video borrows footage from a TV interview between Xuereb and Cassola in the run-up to last month’s European Parliament election, adding an audio track featuring deepfakes of both Xuereb and Cassola.

Advertisement

“The Central Bank of Malta has announced the launch of a Bitcoin bank,” Cassola exclaims in the manipulated footage, going on to speak about how citizens can earn thousands of Euros through the scheme.

The video then cuts to a series of interviews with citizens, including Zammit, talking about how the scheme “completely changed (their) life”. Again, each interview is manipulated through the use of audio deepfakes imitating the tone and timbre of each speaker’s voice.

The video uses footage from a real interviewed.

In another manipulated video promoting the same scam, Central Bank Governor Edward Scicluna tells viewers that the Central Bank is launching a cryptocurrency called MaltaCoin.

Scicluna, once again through an audio deepfake, is shown saying that he expects “MaltaCoin to show rapid growth due to its investment appeal and direct support from the government”, before asking viewers to submit their personal details through an online form.

Another video shows Edward Scicluna saying that the Central Bank was launching a new cryptocurrency

The posts sharing these videos point to a series of fake websites, including a cloned Times of Malta article featuring a fake report about the launch of MaltaCoin and a website using the Central Bank’s logo to promote Bitcoin Bank Malta.

Advertisement

Videos first surfaced in May

The videos aren’t new but appear to have resurfaced in recent days, with readers flagging them to Times of Malta.

Both Cassola and Xuereb told Times of Malta that they had been made aware of the videos back in May, even flagging them to the police at the time.

In correspondence seen by Times of Malta, the police’s cybercrime unit told Cassola that the police cannot take any action as there appears to be “no crime” and they didn’t receive any reports indicating that anyone had “suffered financial damages as a result of watching the videos”.

Instead, the police suggested, the video should be reported directly to Facebook.

But there is little doubt the scam has left victims in its wake. One victim, writing on Facebook, said that the €250 he had sent following the videos’ instructions had “disappeared”.

Advertisement

Fake Facebook profiles

The videos are being shared by a series of fake Facebook profiles, all of them created in recent months and posing as legitimate businesses such as clothing and design stores.

The pages list their address as being in the Croatian city of Zagreb, but records indicate that they are managed by users based across various countries, including Vietnam, India and the Philippines.

Posts promoting cryptocurrency scams have plagued social media platforms for years, but have become increasingly widespread and, in some cases, difficult to identify.

Audio deepfakes have become increasingly adept at imitating the tone and timbre of people’s voices, with AI experts telling Times of Malta that half a minute of audio is enough for AI software to accurately reproduce a person’s speech patterns and inflexion.

Scammers are also getting better at jumping on the bandwagon of current affairs and using the news cycle to promote their fraudulent schemes.

Advertisement

Another scam currently doing the rounds is using the figure of Neville Gafa, a former civil servant who has recently hit headlines after a series of controversial posts about leading Labour Party figures.

A recent scam using the figure of Neville Gafa shows how scammers have learnt to follow the news cycle.

Central Banks appear to be particularly popular targets for scammers, with a spokesperson for Malta’s Central Bank telling Times of Malta that they “are aware that a number of National Central Banks in the Eurosystem have lately been affected by deepfake videos”.

Times of Malta has looked into several similar scams in the past, including some using the figures of Joseph Muscat and Robert Abela, and that of actor Russell Crowe.

Verdict

Several manipulated videos being shared on social media overdub real footage with an audio deepfake to deceive viewers into thinking that popular political figures are promoting a fraudulent crypto scheme.

The videos first surfaced in May but have returned to the spotlight in recent days. The videos are being promoted by fake Facebook profiles and use a fake Times of Malta report to appear legitimate.

Advertisement

They point to a website that uses the Central Bank logo and encourages users to submit personal details.

Similar scams have previously been debunked on several occasions.

This claim is therefore false, as the evidence clearly refutes the claim.

The Times of Malta fact-checking service forms part of the Mediterranean Digital Media Observatory (MedDMO) and the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO), an independent observatory with hubs across all 27 EU member states that is funded by the EU’s Digital Europe programme. Fact-checks are based on our code of principles. 

Let us know what you would like us to fact-check, understand our ratings system or see our answers to Frequently Asked Questions about the service.

Advertisement
MedDMOMedDMO

 

Independent journalism costs money. Support Times of Malta for the price of a coffee.

Support Us

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Crypto

Jim Rickards Asked Robert Kiyosaki to Read One Manuscript, Then His View of Global Finance Changed

Published

on

Jim Rickards Asked Robert Kiyosaki to Read One Manuscript, Then His View of Global Finance Changed

Key Takeaways

Why Did One Manuscript Change Robert Kiyosaki’s View?

Robert Kiyosaki, the author of the best-selling personal finance book Rich Dad Poor Dad, said an advance manuscript of “The Entropy Trap” shared by Jim Rickards prompted him to rethink how he views global finance. Rickards is an economist, lawyer, and financial commentator known for writing about currencies, debt, and systemic market risk. Kiyosaki said the early reading changed his perspective on where the financial system may be headed.

The reaction was framed around a warning about financial change. The book, written by Mickey M. Maini, “blew my mind and opened my eyes to what & why global financial change is coming,” Kiyosaki described. His comments focused on what he described as a shift in the rules behind wealth, assets, and trust.

The central claim is that wealth could move away from people relying on traditional financial assumptions. Kiyosaki asserted:

“The informed will be tomorrow’s ULTRA RICH. Todays uniformed operating by the old rules of money… will become the new poor.”

The Warning Behind the Claim

The warning centers on assets that depend on trust, including U.S. bonds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and mutual funds. Kiyosaki framed those instruments as vulnerable under the financial shift he says is coming, placing commonly held investment products at the center of the risk.

That claim is severe, but he presented it as a warning rather than a proven outcome. He also pointed to large bondholders, including Japan, saying they have already started dumping U.S. bonds. He did not provide supporting data in the statement.

The acclaimed author shared:

Advertisement

“Message from book… ‘All assets that require trust, assets that most people have… such as U.S. bonds, ETFs, mutual funds will be flushed down toilets, all over the world.’”

The broader conflict is whether traditional financial assets remain reliable under the conditions Kiyosaki described. His framing divides investors between those preparing for a changed financial system and those still operating under assumptions he says may no longer hold.

What Still Needs to Be Proven

A planned August study session could clarify the warning Kiyosaki described. He said his study team would examine the message and that Rickards may join, though the evidence behind the claims has not yet been laid out.

For now, the warning rests on Kiyosaki’s account of a manuscript that changed his view. He urged readers to prepare, writing:

“I want you to be one of the world’s new rich.”

What remains unknown is whether market data, policy moves, or investor behavior will confirm the risk he described.

His recent commentary has focused on what he describes as fragility in the global monetary system, particularly around the U.S. dollar. He has pointed to rising debt, central bank policies, and inflation as risks that could trigger a sharp market downturn.

Advertisement

Alongside those concerns, he has repeatedly highlighted bitcoin, gold, and silver as alternative stores of value. In his view, those assets may help reduce exposure to traditional financial instruments during periods of currency weakness and market turbulence.

Continue Reading

Crypto

Strategy Is No Longer Just Going to “Inoculate the Market,” Selling Crypto May Be Much More Common. Here’s What That Could Mean for the Stock | The Motley Fool

Published

on

Strategy Is No Longer Just Going to “Inoculate the Market,” Selling Crypto May Be Much More Common. Here’s What That Could Mean for the Stock | The Motley Fool

When Strategy (MSTR 0.69%) sold a modest amount of Bitcoin earlier this year, it was a noteworthy development given that the company’s business has centered around buying up as much of the cryptocurrency as it can, and vowing to never sell. And it often boasts of being the largest corporate holder of the digital currency.

The company brushed off the sale of 32 Bitcoins, with management saying it simply wanted to “inoculate the market.” Well, now it appears that Strategy is doing much more than just that, and there could be more significant cryptocurrency sales in the future.

Image source: Getty Images.

Strategy unveils a Bitcoin monetization program

On June 29, Strategy released a framework going forward that it says will “enhance liquidity, preserve long-term Bitcoin exposure, and support long-term value creation for shareholders.” Among the notable components is its Bitcoin monetization program.

Within that program, the company says it may sell some of its cryptocurrency holdings for multiple reasons, including to fund a USD reserve, fund dividends or interest expense, or to fund repurchases of digital credit securities or common stock.

Advertisement

While the company says it remains committed to Bitcoin for the long term and it’s the company’s “primary treasury reserve asset,” it’s a significant change of course for Strategy, which was previously heavily against ever selling the digital asset.

Strategy Stock Quote

Today’s Change

(-0.69%) $-0.69

Current Price

$100.08

The stock is as risky and volatile as ever

Whether or not Strategy buys or sells Bitcoin doesn’t change the fact that this is a highly risky and speculative stock to own. While crypto fans may be disappointed in the company’s change in strategy, selling Bitcoin will likely not be enough to make the business any better or worse as an investment.

In just the past 12 months, the stock has plummeted a whopping 75% as volatility in digital assets has drastically weighed on its earnings, with the company incurring $12.8 billion in losses over the trailing 12 months, on revenue of $490 million.

That’s not likely to change significantly, even if Strategy offloads some of its crypto holdings, because with such a large exposure to Bitcoin, how the cryptocurrency performs will inevitably impact the company’s bottom line in a big way. This year, the leading cryptocurrency is down 28% as investor excitement around it has largely cooled off, which has proven disastrous for Strategy’s stock as well. And at this stage, there’s little reason to anticipate a recovery anytime soon.

Continue Reading

Crypto

An Easy-to-Miss Radio Traffic Jam Is Behind Many Home WiFi Slowdowns

Published

on

An Easy-to-Miss Radio Traffic Jam Is Behind Many Home WiFi Slowdowns

Key Takeaways

Your WiFi can feel rock-solid at midnight and oddly sluggish by breakfast, even when you have not touched a single setting. The culprit is often outside your walls: a crowded slice of public radio spectrum where your router has to negotiate space with every nearby network, plus a grab bag of household gadgets that leak interference. Add peak-hours demand and the signal-blocking quirks of building materials and weather, and “slow internet” starts to look less like a billing issue and more like an invisible traffic problem you are forced to share.

When WiFi slows down without warning

One day your home WiFi feels snappy, the next it drags, even though your router hasn’t moved and your internet plan hasn’t changed. That swing is real, and it’s usually not your imagination or a “bad day” from your ISP. WiFi lives on shared airwaves, and those airwaves get crowded, noisy, and sometimes just plain finicky.

Think of your connection as a conversation in a busy room. Your laptop and router may be talking just fine, but the room itself can fill up fast with other chatter. What looks like a mystery slowdown is often the result of invisible competition and interference that changes hour by hour.

The battle of competing networks

Most homes still rely heavily on the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz WiFi bands, which are unlicensed spectrum in the US. That “free for everyone” reality is convenient, but it also means your network shares space with your neighbors, their smart TVs, their work laptops, and every nearby router doing the same thing.

Congestion has a rhythm. During common work-from-home and school-from-home windows, especially 8-10 AM, and again in the evening 6-10 PM, more devices are streaming, video calling, syncing, and downloading updates. Even if you pay for fast broadband, your WiFi link can become the bottleneck when the local radio environment gets packed.

Interference inside your home

Your own house can sabotage you. A microwave is the classic culprit because it can leak noise near 2.4 GHz, exactly where many WiFi networks still operate. Older cordless phones, some baby monitors, and even dense clusters of Bluetooth gadgets can add more clutter, especially in smaller apartments where everything sits close together.

Advertisement

Then there’s physics. Concrete, metal, and even water (think aquariums or thick pipes in walls) absorb and scatter radio signals. A router shoved behind a TV, tucked into a cabinet, or stuck in a far corner forces your devices to “hear” through more obstacles, lowering speeds and making dropouts more likely.

Weather, channels, and what you can do tonight

Environmental changes can matter too. Higher humidity and rain can slightly increase signal loss, and shifting temperatures can change how radio waves propagate around a neighborhood. You might never notice on its own, but paired with congestion it can tip a marginal connection into a frustrating one.

The 2.4 GHz band is also channel-limited. In the US there are 11 channels, but only 1, 6, and 11 don’t overlap. Many routers default to “auto channel,” so nearby networks can hop around trying to escape interference, sometimes creating instability. Practical fixes: prefer 5 GHz (or 6 GHz if you have WiFi 6E/7 gear), place the router centrally and higher up, and use a WiFi analyzer app to pick a less crowded channel instead of leaving it on auto.

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending