A warning has been issued against fake investment advertisements on social media using the name, likeness and voice of Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya. The Prime Minister has requested the public not to lose money relying on such advertisements.
The Prime Minister has also clarified that she is not coming forward to promote any investor or investment scheme. She also said that the videos circulating on social media using her image and voice are fake.
The Prime Minister gave this warning while addressing an event held at the Colombo Stock Exchange. She also pointed out that videos promoting various financial and investment schemes are coming to the public’s attention through social media and platforms like WhatsApp.
The presence of the prime minister’s image or voice in these videos creates an atmosphere where many people believe that they are authentic. But the Prime Minister has mentioned that she has nothing to do with them.
With the advancement of technology, faking one’s image, voice and speech style has become easier than ever before. This has made it necessary to check the authenticity of every investment advertisement seen on social media without immediately believing it.
Advertisements, especially those using the names of political leaders, celebrities or government institutions, may be designed to instill confidence in the public. Some may use it to trick the public into making payments or providing personal banking information.
Caution should be exercised in investment schemes that claim to offer high returns
The Prime Minister has urged the public to be very careful about the investment projects that are said to bring huge profits in a short period of time.
Constantly promising an investment with very high returns without any risk may be a suspicious sign. Ads that claim to earn a lot of money easily and quickly may attract the attention of many. But before investing money one should check the basic things like who is running the scheme, whether the company is registered and whether the investment activity has proper permission.
Investment scams usually involve attempts to make hasty decisions. Information may be displayed such as paying within a certain period of time will result in higher profits, starting with a small amount and quickly earning a large amount, or some people have already made profits.
Sending money without confirming that such information is authentic can be dangerous.
An important point pointed out by the Prime Minister is related to financial awareness. She stressed that basic financial knowledge should be increased in the society and one should understand and make decisions about where one invests one’s money.
Even a small investment can be one’s savings for many years. Extra care is needed before investing in unfamiliar investment schemes, especially pensions, remittances from work abroad, bank savings or family emergency funds.
As the Prime Minister jokingly pointed out, if the promise of making big money easily in a very short period of time is true, everyone in the country can become rich very quickly. This comment highlights the situation where people can be deceived using the desire for greater profits.
What should the public do to identify social media scams?
Avoid paying or opening links provided in social media investment advertisements.
In particular, the mere presence of a photograph, video or voice of the Prime Minister or other prominent person in an advertisement should not be taken as proof of its authenticity. Since fake videos and voices can be created using current technologies, it becomes important to independently verify the source of the information.
If in doubt about an investment opportunity, one can check the official website of the company and the information of related financial institutions. It is safer to use official contact methods instead of relying only on the phone number or WhatsApp account provided in the social media account.
Likewise, bank account number, card details, OTP, password or other personal information should not be shared with unknown persons.
Another danger of such scams is that they make you invest small amount first and then induce you to pay more money. Although initially some refunds are shown, later after paying a large amount the connection may be disconnected. So even a small initial success should not be taken as conclusive proof that the project is genuine.
Financial awareness is very important for the public to protect their hard earned money. Information that spreads fast especially on social media should be checked for authenticity before immediately sharing it with others.
The main objective of the warning issued by Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya is to ensure that the public does not fall prey to fake investment advertisements created using her name. She has clarified that she has nothing to do with such advertisements.
All in all, it is important to check the background, credibility of the company and the nature of the investment before trusting investment advertisements spread on social media. Taking the promise of high returns especially in a very short period of time, taking it as a warning sign and being extra careful can help protect the public’s money.