Scammers Using Zaobao Brand to Sell Fake Products

By
George Yang
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Here’s something you might not know: do you notice that your Facebook newsfeed is drastically different, compared to two years ago?

Back then, you’d see article links from almost any URL—and you’d just click on them based on the headline.

But now, Facebook has clamped down on those fly-by-night sensationalised websites, and all you see nowadays are links from “legit” sources. Also, we’ve also been trained to spot fake news; any website that’s new would trigger our “fake news radar”.

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However, what if scammers used a strong brand to peddle fake news? And since Facebook isn’t going to show them organically, they can just boost it.

Here’s what happened to the Zaobao brand.

Zaobao: The Latest Victim in Cloned Website

I’m pretty sure you’ve seen websites like this:

Image: Screenshot of fake site

It looks real with the CNN logo and whatnot, but with a tap of a mouse, anyone can generate such clone.

In recent times, we’ve seen many well-known people falling victim to this scam, from the example above (Jack Neo) to billionaire Peter Lim.

Now, the scammers have taken it to a whole new level: they’ve created believable articles with Zaobao’s branding.

Image: Facebook (Lianhe Zaobao 联合早报)

To be perfectly honest, at first glance, it looks legit: images of men were mosaiced and the headline looks a tad believable.

But of course, a look at the URL and you’ll know it’s a cloned website.

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Since these websites usually don’t have organic views, they’re most probably “sponsored” to unsuspecting readers.

So here’s a PSA: When you’re reading an article, do take a look at the URL.

And also, don’t “gong gong” think it’s legit just because it’s “green with a padlock”: that’s just an SSL certificate which converts http to https, and can be done with just a few dollars.

How to Prevent Online Scam (Or Fake Advertisements)

The first step is, of course, to subscribe to our YouTube channel, whereby we’ve done a few anti-scam videos in collaboration with the Singapore Police Force:

The second step is to remember this: check, verify and check again.

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And use a bit of common sense.

Zaobao might keep on asking you to subscribe to their “premium” articles, but they won’t sell you phones. Goody Feed might keep on asking you to download their stupid app, but they won’t sell you cai png.

And lastly?

If you spot a fake / cloned website like that, report it immediately. You might not be a VR Man that can save the world, but doing that would help bring down a website that’s sucking a person’s life savings.

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George Yang
Email: [email protected]