Matt ‘Shirvo’ Shirvington has passionately warned viewers not to click on compelling financial scams exploiting a fake interview between him and Sam Kerr.
The Sunrise presenter revealed on Monday that scammers made up a fake interview between him and the Matilda star to try to trick people into signing up to a fraudulent investment platform.
‘Do not click on the links. That’s the only advice I can give you,” Shirvo told viewers.
“Every time you ask social media companies to report it to remove it, it shows up somewhere else.”
And he added: ‘Don’t do it. You will lose your money.
Sunrise host Matt Shirvington revealed on Monday that scammers made up a fake interview between him and Mathilda star Sam Kerr to try to trick people into signing up to a fraudulent investment platform (pictured the fake interview is shown).
Sunrise consumer correspondent Shaun White revealed the station had received dozens of emails from concerned viewers who had been targeted by the scam, with some losing up to $10,000.
“The premise here was that they (the scammers) established that it was a Sunrise segment where you (and Sam Kerr) were discussing how to make money through investment platforms,” ​​White explained.
‘But the whole premise here was to establish that trust, using their faces, that this was real. And then have people click on a link to this online trading platform and get their financial information from there.’
White warned people not to follow any investment advice through social media.
“Once they’ve established that report, they’ll ask for about $250 via credit card and then initiate a small investment to build that trust,” he said.
Sunrise consumer correspondent Shaun White (pictured) revealed the station had received dozens of emails from concerned viewers who had been targeted by the scam, with some losing up to $10,000.
‘Then they could force you to download a third-party platform and then once that’s happened you’re going to have some problems because they have access to you.
“They may ask you for the password to your online control panel and then even show you fake earnings and that’s when they’ll really catch you.”
WhatsNew2Day Australia uncovered a fake news article about the fabricated interview between Shirvo and Kerr being used to advertise a fraudulent investment platform called Immediate Cipro 2.0.
The National Anti-Scam Center warned consumers last month about these types of fake news articles and deepfake videos from public figures trying to convince people to sign up for fraudulent investment platforms.
Last year, Australians reported losing more than $8 million to scams on online investment trading platforms.
Sunrise host Matt Shirvington warned users not to follow social media investment advice (pictured with Nat Barr)
“We urge Australians to take their time and do their research before taking advantage of an investment opportunity, particularly those seen on social media,” Australian Competition and Consumer Commission deputy chair Catriona Lowe said.
“Scammers are creating fake news articles and fake videos to convince people that celebrities and well-known public figures are making huge sums of money using online investment platforms, when in fact it is a scam.”
Lowe said the ACCC was aware of an Australian man who lost $80,000 in cryptocurrency after clicking on a link to a fake Elon Musk video on social media and entering his details.
“He was provided with an account manager and an online dashboard where he could see how his investment was supposedly generating huge profits,” Ms Lowe added.
“But when he tried to withdraw the money, he was blocked from accessing his account.”
Scamwatch reports indicate that the most prolific online investment trading platform scam appears under the brand name ‘Quantum AI’.
Others include ‘Immediate Edge’, ‘Immediate Connect’, ‘Immediate X3’ and ‘Quantum Trade Wave’.