Prepared by: Etrit Rexhepi
"Shocking news! Have you heard about the tragic end of Albin Kurti"or in Albanian"Shocking news! Have you heard about the tragic end of Albin Kurti?". This caption is found in one of the publications found on the social network "Facebook", where the photo of Prime Minister Kurti also appears. Similar posts like this were found published yesterday (August 8) with images of some of the Kosovar journalists and politicians (journalists Valon Syla and Vehbi Kajtazi, as well as the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti and the chairman of the political entity Aleanca Kosova e Re (AKR), Behgjet Pacolli). Hibrid.info has treated some of this content by assessing it as fraud, which may have financial purposes behind it (see here and here).
Characteristics of these contents
The published materials are presented through a clickable image, which displays a photograph of one of the public figures mentioned above. The photograph is in the form of an article written on the portal “KosSev.info”, with the title in English “... didn't know that the microphone was on, and we said goodbye to him forever"or in Albanian"...he didn't know the microphone was on and we said goodbye forever". It is worth noting that these posts were found in sponsored form (advertisement) from pages with a small number of followers and a relatively small number of publications on Facebook.
After clicking on the image, a link opens, presenting an article, the title of which claims that the public figure in the photo has been sued by the “Bank of Kosovo” for words spoken during an interview. The texts are presented as imitations of the websites of several media outlets in Kosovo (in our case Zeri.info”, “KlanKosova.tv” and “Telegrafi.com), which can also be evidenced based on the domain of these websites, which do not belong to the media outlets in question.
The content of these texts claims to be fictitious interviews with public figures, where they have shown how you can get rich through an alleged cryptocurrency platform called “Nearest Edge”. Although it is said that the interview has been deleted, a part of this alleged interview is presented within the article. The text page also contains a link to the website of the alleged platform, “Nearest Edge” and there are several fake comments from non-existent Facebook accounts.
Link displayed, after clicking, it leads to the website with the name of this platform. The website presents the opportunity to register, where you can provide personal data: name, surname, email address and phone number. Also, images of some public figures have been used within the space of this website.
What is known so far?
In Kosovo, apart from the actors mentioned in these publications and the Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AGK), there has been no explanatory or informative reaction from the competent institutions regarding the content in question. Research by hibrid.info shows that content of the same nature has also circulated in the countries of the region in Albania and Northern Macedonia.
Based on an article by "Radio Free Europe" (REL), it is reported that the Macedonian Police, together with Europol and Interpol, are searching for fraudsters with fake news about cryptocurrency trading.
REL, citing the North Macedonian Police, have reported that three alleged cryptocurrency trading platforms called “nearstedge”, “Bitapp24” and “Immediate codex” have been identified, offered through several fake websites. According to the Police, this is part of a wider scheme targeting the audience Europeans and that the content of these sponsored ads is simply tailored to the local audience by adopting the names of local celebrities and following a similar pattern. The traces of these fraudulent pages lead to addresses in the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Singapore and require the entry of personal data for cryptocurrency trading (see here).
Hibrid.info has found the platform's website "Nearest Edge", whose name appears in these fraudulent contents. The platform in question appears to be legal, but for some reason, based on the evaluations of platforms for measuring the reliability of websites, the level of reliability of its website is assessed to be low (see here and here). Also, no official reaction has been found from the platform regarding the fraud that may be committed in its name.
Otherwise, Kosovo has not yet finalized the law that would regulate the field of virtual currencies. According to public statements, the law will include the verification of imported equipment for their production, transaction activity and the form of taxation. The Kosovo Assembly had taken the initiative to draft a cryptocurrency law in the summer of 2021 (see here).