On September 28, 2023, a page focused on business tips named “Tips for Starting a Business From People Who’ve Been There” appeared on Facebook. The ads section of the page features sponsored content from November 5-24 that offers an easy way to make money. Namely, the posts that have the form of video ads, argue that the company “Lukoil” gives people a chance to get rich and allows them to become shareholders of the company by buying shares. As an initial investment, they have to invest $200, and as a result, they will receive a certain income from each transaction. The Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili also appears in the ads, where along with Garibashvili’s photo we see the logo of “Lukoil” and the promise of earning at least 3000 GEL every month.
The disseminated ads contain signs of fraud. The newly created Facebook page, along with other pages with the same name, requests financial investments from Internet users, although the company “Lukoil” has not opened a similar investment platform, and Irakli Garibashvili has not talked about it either.
Garibashvili appears several times in the advertisements published by the mentioned page. One of them shows the PM’s speech at the 76th Assembly of the United Nations, where he spoke about Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic integration, elections, regional cooperation, and other topics. The text of Gharibashvili’s speech is covered with Russian translation and subtitles, which is not actually accurate and spreads false information as if Garibashvili offers the population to earn money with the help of Lukoil, and the minimum investment from the people will be 400 GEL.
Notably, the videomanipulation featuring Garibashvili is used intentionally to increase credibility and involve more people in the fraudulent scheme.
“Lukoil Georgia” also responded to the disseminated information. In a statement published on their official Facebook page and website on October 31, 2023, the company clarified that a scam is circulating on the internet in their name. Lukoil denies the fact that they have opened an investment platform for individuals. According to their information, the video incorrectly uses real television footage, in which the former president of Lukoil, corporate footage, and the logo can be seen.
A single look at the Facebook page “Tips for Starting a Business From People Who’ve Been There” does not reveal anything suspicious, because ads are not visible on the front of the page and are only available in the ads library, while photos and mostly motivational content posts are published on the Facebook page. However, it’s worth noting that the scam posts are sponsored, which means that Facebook users are seeing ads in their News Feed.
Notably, “Myth Detector” has identified a similar fraudulent scheme in which Salome Zourabichvili appeared in a similar advertisement of “Socar.”
Websites indicated on the Facebook page
When entering the ad library for the Facebook page “Tips for Starting a Business From People Who’ve Been There,” clicking on the ads will take you to https://developmentcop.com/. This site offers various services to the user, such as book editing, cover design, help to increase book sales. On the site, we find the testimonials of three satisfied users.
The authenticity of these people is doubtful. We verified the origin of the photos through Google Lens.
In the case of Nicholas Moore, it was determined that the real name of the person shown in the photo is Thomas Mary, and he is a mechanical engineer.
In the case of Madelyn Garcia, we found this particular photo through TinEye and it was allegedly taken by one of the Iranian photographers (Raamin Ka). When we searched the same photo with Google Lens, we got other information about this person. Her name is Nana Scott, who is a manager in one of the German companies.
The visual characteristics of the human shown in the third photo are similar to a photo generated by artificial intelligence. After Tineye’s analysis, a total of three sources were found for this particular photo, two of them lead to a malicious website, and the third source links to a site that offers AI-generated photos. While verifying the photo via Google Lens, according to one source, Fred Cooper’s possible first and last name is Scottie Balayan, who is an author, philosopher, and cognitive scientist.
As a result of analysis with Whois.DomainTools, we determined that the website (developmentcop.com) was created on November 1, 2023, and has an IP address in California. The address on the website is New Zealand, Wellington.
While the advertisement published on the Facebook page mentions the website “developmentcop.com,” if a Facebook user sees the advertisement on the News Feed and clicks on the indicated link, instead of the official website of developmentcop.com, the user will be redirected to the Russian-language website, which encourages users to earn money using Lukoil. In the next step, we already see instructions on how to earn money in this way. According to the mentioned information, “Lukoil Georgia” gives people over 21 years of age the opportunity to invest. In addition, it is mentioned that the investment is possible from August 26, 2023, after the agreement between the “Georgian Welfare Fund” and the owner of Lukoil, Vagit Alekperov. In order to make the investment process convenient, Lukoil has fully automated the system using the latest algorithms, so users do not need to spend a lot of time and perform additional tasks. In the end, the platform offers investors the opportunity to fill out a quick test. This includes gender, age, phone number, and e-mail address, as well as asking investors how much money they want to receive and whether they have had any past investment experience.
The test on the site aims to collect information about Internet users, and then contact them and engage them in a fraudulent scheme. “Myth Detector” has revealed similar fraudulent cases in the past. See more here.
Other Facebook pages with identical names
It should be noted that 4 more Facebook pages with the same name (Tips for Starting a Business From People Who’ve Been There) can be found on the internet (1,2,3,4). Of these pages (including one that sponsors content), one was created in September 2023, and three were created in July, September, and October 2022.
Notably, the content of the posts published on these pages is identical in some cases.
In addition to the name and published posts, these Facebook pages share the same address (Kyiv, Ukraine) and the link indicated in the page description (gobankingrates.com/money/entrepreneur/tips-for-starting-business-from-business-owners).
By clicking on the link, we go to the American site (gobankingrates.com), which is about managing finances and improving your financial situation. The site also lists the publication’s social media accounts (LinkedIn, Facebook, X, Instagram), where gobankingrate has thousands of followers. Gobankingrate also has a YouTube channel that hosts videos on a variety of topics, including careers, investing, travel, taxes, and retirement. Therefore, it is suspected that these Facebook pages are using the gobankingrate name to create a credible image.
Tamar Maisuradze
Myth Detector Lab
The article has been written in the framework of Facebook’s fact-checking program. You can read more about the restrictions that Facebook may impose based on this article via this link. You can find information about appealing or editing our assessment via this link.
Read detailed instructions for editing the article.
Read detailed appeal instructions.
