Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
Claim
A BBC report stated that Bollywood actor Kriti Sanon promoted a “get-rich-quick” trading platform on the talk show “Koffee With Karan”.
An archived version of the tweet can be seen here.
Fact
Newschecker first noticed the obvious misspelling of Karan Johar in the BBC report’s thumbnail image in the viral tweet, raising our doubts.
We then ran a search for “BBC Kriti Sanon Karan Johar trading platform”, which did not throw up any reports of the actor promoting a trading platform. Also, the URL of the purported report reads https://amirasaloon.com/, which is different from the official BBC website, indicating that the interview is from a dubious website.
We then ran the link to the trading platform, Everix Edge, allegedly endorsed by Sanon, past Scam Detector, a major online fraud prevention resource. The detector stated that the website is “Debatable. Contentious. Controversial,” giving it a low trust score. “The algorithm detected high-risk activity related to phishing, spamming, and other factors…,” read the review.
A further search led us to multiple news reports from December 2023, seen here, here and here, stating that Sanon debunked reports claiming that she promoted ‘some trading platforms’ on Karan Johar’s chat show Koffee With Karan 8.
Kriti reportedly wrote on Instagram stories, “There have been several articles reporting false news about me promoting some trading platforms at Koffee with Karan. These articles are completely fake and false and have been published with a dishonest and mala fide intent. These articles are defamatory and are false associating me with the trading platforms. I have never spoken regarding any trading platform on the show. I have taken legal action against such false articles and reports and issued legal notice. I request everyone to be cautious against such false, fake and defamatory reports (folded hands emoji).”
Business moguls Gautam Adani, Mukesh Ambani, Azim Premji, Nandan Nilekani and NR Narayana Murty have all been the subjects of similar fake reports and interviews, intended to mislead people into investing in dubious cryptocurrency schemes. These reports have been debunked by Newschecker, which further confirms that the alleged Sanon report, too, follows the same template.
Also Read: Earthquake In Taiwan: Viral Video Of Building Collapse Is From Turkey
Result: False
Source
Scam Detector review
Hindustan Times report, December 3, 2023
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Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
