Video of Musk, Trudeau touting investment scheme is fake
- Published on December 3, 2024 at 21:36
- 3 min read
- By Gwen ROLEY, AFP Canada
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"The Canadian government is concealing information from the public about a platform where individuals can earn $40,000 monthly with just $350," Musk appears to say in a November 22, 2024 Facebook video.
The clip -- viewed more than 10,000 times -- is framed as a news report from the Canadian channel CTV in which the anchor describes a purported conversation between Musk and Peterson.
In the clip, the billionaire tech entrepreneur claims the Canadian government is hiding a lucrative investment platform from the public, followed by footage where Trudeau supposedly reacts to Musk's complaints.
"We decided to verify this platform to ensure it wasn't a pyramid scheme," the prime minister appears to say. "Now, I can state that this platform is reliable and has indeed brought substantial profits to thousands of Canadians."
Multiple other versions of the clip were posted in late November.
Canadians have been the target of numerous fake passive income schemes using manipulated media of public figures debunked by AFP.
Through reverse image searches, AFP determined the edit of the supposed news cast with Musk, Peterson and Trudeau's likenesses is similarly illegitimate.
The alleged CTV News footage features anchor Heather Butts and is visually similar to a broadcast from June 28 (archived here). However, the national news channel did not report on a revenue generating platform for Canadians that evening.
A video in the same setting as the Facebook clip was posted online on July 22 (archived here) showing Musk and Peterson, a best-selling author, podcast host and social commentator.
The billionaire and the Canadian personality have had adversarial moments with Trudeau in the past, but the two-hour long conversation did not mention him hiding a passive income scheme, nor did they discuss any purported financial platform.
The Trudeau clip in the misleading posts mimics an April 25 press conference covering the future opening of a Honda electric vehicle assembly plant in Ontario. In the legitimate footage posted on the prime minister's official YouTube page, he does not mention Musk or the verification of an online money-making platform (archived here).
Suspicious page
The Facebook pages posting the video have characteristics similar to other accounts spreading scams, including being created in the same month they start sharing the altered clips.
One account says it is based in two locations in the United States -- New York City and Fife, Washington. However, it lists a Chicago-area phone number under its contact information. AFP called but did not receive an answer.
The links attached to the posts lead to a blog discussing investment options in Canada. The website is identical to another page promoted via manipulated videos of Trudeau and Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland debunked by AFP.
While AFP could not determine the motive for the posts, they share characteristics with other deceptive marketing schemes aimed at obtaining personal information from Canadians (archived here).
Read more of AFP's reporting on misinformation in Canada here.
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