Associated Incidents
MILAN -- Cryptocurrency investments advertised by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella: it seems impossible to believe, in fact there is nothing real. But the videos published on some sites and platforms were so sophisticated that they constituted a real danger for consumers' pockets. Consob blocked the advertisements for these abusive financial services, then obscuring four other misleading sites. It is the first time that Consob has obscured advertisements of this type: it is in fact the first application of the "capital law" that has attributed new powers to the authority. Among which that of ordering telecommunication service providers to obscure sites or content that advertise unauthorized financial activities.
One of the videos released - and obscured - was a deepfake with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announcing a "guaranteed income of 40 thousand euros per month" thanks to the platform "which has obtained the license from the State" and, with the approval of the central bank, "guarantees your income". The fake Meloni then takes on the tone of a telesales presenter, saying that thanks to this project "anyone will have the opportunity to change their life forever". But not just anyone: the fake explains that you have to hurry "because places are limited". There is another element that immediately leads back to the scam: that of the basic deposit of 250 euros. The initial amount requested by these fake platforms is in fact always this.
What the fake Meloni and Mattarella advertised
The amazing earnings that the fake politicians talked about can be traced back to a scam scheme that is now very well-established and that we have already seen with Amazon Trading and, more recently, with Fininvest trading (companies obviously unaware of the scam, simply exploited for their notoriety). These are sites artfully built to look like trading platforms, where the victim is guided step by step over the phone to make the first deposit, almost always with a bank transfer to a non-existent or untraceable foreign company.
After this initial investment, the customer begins to see the first earnings on the platform and is invited by his "personal assistant" to raise, rather than cashing out immediately. The earnings are made of cardboard: there is no investment but simply a person who gives money to a criminal. The advice to continue investing is almost always followed, with the illusion that making money is really child's play. After all, the advertisements talk about 1,275 euros obtainable in just seven hours. Maya's veil is revealed when the victim says enough, and tries to withdraw the money earned: the assistant disappears and there is no way to contact the company, except an email to which no one responds. The money is lost.