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| - Links to a fake mocked-up BBC article, that claim ITV journalist Robert Peston is being sued for revealing a get-rich-quick investment scheme, are circulating on Facebook.
The headline of the article reads: “That is a really sad day for the UK! Bank of England sues Robert Peston for what he said on live TV. Every Briton should know about it!”
The article is presented as appearing on a ‘York & North Yorkshire’ section of the BBC News website. However, there isn’t a section called this on the BBC News website, only one for North Yorkshire.
It features a long transcript, supposedly of a “deleted” on-air interview between ITV presenters Robert Peston and Paul Brand, about an easy way to make money using an online trading platform.
The article also describes a BBC “editor” supposedly trying out the trading platform and shares details of their bank balance and how much money they apparently made through the scheme.
However, the article never appeared on the real BBC News website and the conversation between the two journalists did not happen. No BBC article with that headline exists, and the broadcaster has confirmed it is fake.
A spokesperson for the BBC told Full Fact: “I can confirm that this article is fake. We urge everyone to check links and URLs to ensure they are getting news from a trusted source.”
Robert Peston, ITV’s political editor, posted on his official account on X (formerly Twitter) that the piece was a fake.
“There is a fake BBC News story being circulated on social media about me bigging up a supposedly surefire investment scheme to @PaulBrandITV,” he said in the post.
There are a number of clues that it isn’t a genuine BBC News article, including that the article does not have a BBC URL, and none of the links to other sections of the BBC site function.
Two versions of the same fake BBC page with different URLs (one beginning unitedkingdom-news.live and the other anker24press.info) have been shared on Facebook in recent days.
Both versions include regular hyperlinks throughout, each to different trading platforms.
However, the webpages they link to are almost identical, except for the name shown on a banner at the top of the screen.
Fake articles imitating trusted news sites such as these may convince people to make financial decisions based on fake endorsements from trusted public figures.
Citizens Advice describes how you can protect yourself online.
We have previously debunked other faked BBC articles, including that Martin Lewis endorsed a cryptocurrency platform in a BBC interview, and that the broadcaster reported that “shallow breathing” increases risk of heart attack.
Image courtesy of Erru73
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