Wrote: Fatbardh Dema
A website called "coldispam.com" has put up for sale a product claiming to help restore hearing.
This website has placed the logo of the Albanian-language portal "BalkanWeb" at its top.
Also included in its content is a photograph of a person known as a folk healer, Erxhan Muharremi, who is holding a product called "U CAPS".
What did hibrid.info find?
After fact-checking, hibrid.info has confirmed that this website is not secure. Using the website verification platform “Scamdoc.com”, the results show that it is unknown who is behind it. (see here)
This website displays the logo "AOL". After research conducted by hibrid.info, it was confirmed that this logo belongs to the Albanian language portal "Balkanweb.com", which appears to have been misused by the portal "coldispam.com".
Who is the person appearing in the content?
This content features the name and image of a person known as a folk doctor, Erxhan Muharremi.
In the content of published article from the portal "coldispam.com", Muharrem is shown holding a product called "U CAPS". (see photo below)
After research conducted by hibrid.info, it was found that this photo is edited. The same was found in a RTV Dukagjini show, in which Muharrem held another product in his hands. (see photo below)
Another element that proves that Muharrem's image has been tampered with is the fact that he did not have a watch or a ring on his hand, as shown in the content of the "coldispam.com" portal.
What is the U CAPS product?
After researching this product called “U Caps”, hibrid.info found an article published by Bosnian fact-checkers, “Raskrinkavanje.ba”, who have dealt with similar content, where it has been proven that this product is fake. (see here)
Hibrid.info has previously covered content related to this product, which was sold by other dubious websites. (see here and here)
Analyze:
After verification of the facts conducted by hibrid.info, it has been confirmed that in order to sell this product, which falsely claims that it helps restore hearing, a photograph was used depicting a person named Erxhan Muharremi, who is known as a folk healer.
This content was found and published by a suspicious portal.
Bosnian fact-checker "Razkrinkavanje.ba", on April 25, in an article published about the product "U Caps", clarified that the same is false.
Based on the work methodology, hibrid.info has assessed this promotion of this product as "Scam".
Reasoning:
The “Deception” rating is given to informational content that is manipulated in terms of visual (deepfake, cheapfake), audio, or textual content to deceive the audience. This form of deception is usually used to produce false and manipulated content.