In the recent period, information about the investment platforms created by the initiative of the political leaders of Armenia and Moldova has become rather rampant on social media. In the post featuring the image of Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of Armenia, published by the Facebook page Luxura, we read that any social media user can earn different amounts of money within 4 months. The post also features the logo of AmeriaBank. Additionally, a video published by the Facebook page Blitana, claims that Maia Sandu, together with the parliament, decided to open an investment platform for all citizens of Moldova, where everyone can earn money. The logos of the Moldovan bank Moldova Agroindbank are featured on the link indicated with the video.
The information that AmeriaBank and Moldova Agroindbank opened investment platforms on the initiative of Nikol Pashinyan or Maya Sandu is false. Both companies have indicated at various times that these types of posts and platforms are misusing their names to pursue fraudulent schemes.
According to the statement published on the official Facebook page of Ameriabank on May 19, information about online frauds was spreading in the name of the bank.
The bank urged customers to be more cautious. Among the examples used in the statement, one of the Facebook pages, similar to the post shared by Luxura, promised users increasing income on a monthly basis.
The link provided in the fraudulent post in the name of Ameriabank redirects the user to wnewstime.com.
The website features the logo of the Russian investment company Территория Инвестирования and features information about investing during crises. The user registration link is not found on the site, but no other part of the site, including the “About Us” section, is accessible.
It should be noted that the website was registered on August 23, 2022. And the official website of Территория Инвестирования tinvest.org was registered on September 24, 2014.
As for the web site candleglow.space, which is linked to Maya Sandu’s video, when accessing it, the user must fill out an eight-question questionnaire, after which the user must register on the site with its phone number. The logos of Moldova Agroibank (Maib) are used on the site.
“Myth Detector” wrote about the fraudulent content spread under the name of Maib in the past as well. However, in that case, the post had a link to the fake investment platform of the company Socar. The method is identical in both cases – the user must answer the questions on the site and register. For more information on other scams in the name of Socar, see:
About Facebook pages
The Facebook page Blitana, which published a fraudulent post about Maia Sandu, was created on July 8, 2022.
Page description states that it covers health and beauty-related topics. In the short information about the page in Portuguese it is written that Detox Fitness is the world’s leading technology that supports weight loss.
The following email address is indicated in the contact information section of the page: [email protected]
The page changed its name twice, replacing Warm Winter Sunshine with Blitana on April 6, 2023. The page is managed by 5 administrators from Ukraine and Vietnam.
On the cover and profile photos published on the page, we see the name and logo of the real cryptocurrency company Binance.
However, Binance has more than 1,000,000 likes on its official Facebook page, while Blitana has five.
As for Facebook page Luxura, the information about the page states that it is a bookstore. The page was created on May 1, 2022 under the name Elhr3, and on April 20, 2023, the name was changed to Luxura. The page has 4 administrators, including 3 from Ukraine and 1 from Indonesia.
There are currently three posts available in the page’s ad library. One of them is a fraudulent post in the name of AmeriaBank, and two are the Russian oil company Gazprom.
None of these pages show the scam posts on the timeline, giving the impression that the posts were hidden from the timeline after they were published.
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