Prepared by: Festim Rizanaj
Data from last week's monitoring show that fraud has been the predominant form of informational disorder in the media and digital space.
Over the past week, a series of deceptive content created or manipulated with artificial intelligence has been circulating on social media, with the aim of deceiving the public. Several dramatic videos claiming to show Tel Aviv Airport after an Iranian attack have been widely shared with the caption “Tel Aviv Airport”, but after verification it has been found that they are generated with artificial intelligence. Also, on June 14 and 17, two other images with false claims of bombings in Tel Aviv were published on Facebook, respectively by the pages “Investiguesi Shkrimor” and “KosovaLajm.net”, which after verification also turned out to be created with AI. Meanwhile, on June 16, the page “Manager Al 99471” shared images simulating a security notice from “Meta”, using alarmist language to encourage users to provide personal data – a classic form of phishing. Another case of fraud is related to the “Zenith Vip Club” Facebook page, which presents itself as an exclusive cycling club, but which in fact promotes a dubious investment site through a dubious “VIP Membership” model. All these cases testify to the increasing prevalence of visual and textual frauds designed to deceive users through social platforms.
Last week, several cases of disinformation spreading unfounded claims were published on online media and social networks. The Serbian portal Kossev published two articles on June 12 and 14 regarding the arrest of Arbnor Spahiu, describing him as a former member of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). However, fact-checking shows that this claim is not based on any confirmed data and is incorrect. Another case of disinformation appeared on June 16 on the TikTok platform, where an account named “gp.8” published an image accompanied by the claim that former US President Donald Trump had asked Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić to recognize Kosovo’s independence and implement the 2020 Washington agreement. After analysis, no official or media source was found to confirm such a conversation between the two leaders, making this content false and manipulative.
It was considered an error to publish online articles in several media outlets on June 17 claiming that the Kosovo Energy Corporation (KEK) had announced the shutdown of unit A4 of the Kosovo A Power Plant at midnight. These news items were distributed by well-known platforms such as “Ekonomia Online”, “AlbanianPost”, “Insajderi.org”, “DtvMedia” and “GazetaDemos”. However, verification by Hibrid.info shows that the KEK announcement refers to an event that occurred on May 10, 2025 and not on June 17, as reported. This factual error has led to an incorrect interpretation of the information and the distribution of outdated news as if it were a current development.
Clickbait was assessed on June 19, by the portal “Ntv.al” with the title “Trump will demand the separation of Kosovo in exchange for recognition by Serbia”. The topic is related to an analyst's prediction, presented in the title as a certain fact, making the content typical of clickbait.
The unverified content was published on June 18 by the media outlets “Radio Star Gjilan” and “KosovaPress” claiming to show the ballistic missile used by Iran in an attack on Israel. However, the footage in question belongs to the Falcon 9 rocket of the company SpaceX, which is used to launch Starlink satellites, and has no connection to any military action.
Lies
Several videos showing a damaged airport, with extensive rubble and dramatic views, are circulating widely on social media. According to the claims accompanying it, it shows the airport in Tel Aviv, after a suspected Iranian attack. It is being shared with the caption: “Tel Aviv Airport”. After fact-checking, it was found that these videos were generated with artificial intelligence. (here)
Some have been published Photography with the same caption claiming that unusual activity has been detected regarding access to an account and requests that the user immediately complete the identity verification process to protect the account and continue normal operation. These contents were published today (June 16) by a page named “Manager Al 99471” on Facebook and each of them contains a large number of pages and accounts of several different organizations, institutions, businesses and personalities that are mentioned. The message presented is a phishing attempt that aims to steal personal data and is not an official announcement from “Meta”. (here)
On June 14, the Facebook account “Investiguesi Shkrimor” published an image showing traces of explosions and fire among high-rise buildings, claiming that it was a scene from last night in Tel Aviv. However, after a fact-checking process, hibrid.info concluded that the image is not real, but was created through artificial intelligence tools. (here)
A Facebook page claims to be an exclusive club for cyclists. The page is called “Zenith Vip Club” and has a link to the website “zenith-vip-club.xyz” (see here). Hibrid.info has found that although this page claims to be a “bike rental”, it offers “VIP Membership” which sounds more like an investment scheme. (here)
A photo has been published showing footage of a massive bombing, claiming to be of the city of Tel Aviv in Israel. This image with this claim was published (June 17) by a Facebook page called “KosovaLajm.net”. Hibrid.info has found that this photo was actually generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI). (here)
disinformation
In two articles published on June 12 and 14 by the Serbian news portal Kossev, regarding the arrest of Arbnor Spahiu, he is described as a former member of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). However, after verifying the facts, it turns out that he was not a member of the KLA – an unfounded and inaccurate claim that is not supported by any verified data. (here)
An image has been published with a caption claiming that Donald Trump, the president of the United States of America (US), during a conversation with the president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, has asked the latter for Serbia to recognize the independence of Kosovo and implement the 2020 Washington agreement, signed by Kosovo and Serbia. This image was published (June 16) on TikTok by an account named “gp.8”. Hibrid.info has not found any reports confirming the alleged conversation between President Trump and President Vučić. (here)
error
Several articles have been published claiming that the Kosovo Energy Corporation (KEK) has announced the shutdown of unit A4 of the Kosovo A Power Plant at midnight. The texts with this claim were published (June 17) by media outlets such as: “Ekonomia Online”, “AlbanianPost”, “Insajderi.org”, “DtvMedia”, “GazetaDemos” etc. Hibrid.info has found that the announcement published yesterday by KEK dates back to May 10 of this year. While the media outlets in question have published it as an event that occurred yesterday. (here)
Clickbait
An article titled “Trump will demand the separation of Kosovo in exchange for recognition by Serbia” is published. This content was published today (June 19) by the Albanian language media outlet “Ntv.al”. The title presents an analyst’s prediction as a confirmed fact. (here)
Unverified content
Videos showing footage of a missile have been released, claiming to be the ballistic missile used by Iran in attacks on Israel. The content was published on Thursday (June 18) by Albanian-language media outlets such as “Radio Star Gjilan” and “KosovaPress”. The footage shown is of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, which is being launched to deploy Starlink satellites, and is not related to any military attack. (here)