A vast network of scammers with international implications is behind ads featuring Quebec celebrities promoting counterfeit pills without their knowledge.
• Also read: “You are lateral thinkers!”
• Also read: “Your product is crap!”
Ève-Marie Lortie, Gino Chouinard and Claude Legault have become, without their consent, “spokespeople” for miracle products to lose weight or combat erectile dysfunction, in advertisements distributed mainly on Facebook.
These misleading ads lead to all types of transactional websites. This advertising is by no means harmless, but is orchestrated by a structured, international organization, reveals the JE program as part of an investigation that will be broadcast this evening.
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The goal of this organization? Taking money away from consumers.
“It’s fraud, that’s clear!” says actor Claude Legault in an interview on the show JE
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The actor Claude Legault.
The organization Cyber Citizen, which specializes in cybersecurity and the protection of personal data, looked into this internationally oriented network at the request of JE.
“We’re talking about hundreds of websites, multiple infrastructures, going back several years, that seem strangely well organized. “It’s not someone doing this alone in their basement, there’s really an ecosystem,” emphasizes director Catherine Dupont-Gagnon.
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The director of Cyber Citizen, Catherine Dupont-Gagnon.
Two branches
According to expert Sam Harper, also from Cyber Citoyen, this network would be divided into two branches. The first would be busy spreading fraudulent advertisements on social networks, while the second would create a whole series of transaction pages to sell the pills.
“We have the impression that they are all independent companies, but ultimately we see that they are run or managed by the same people,” explains the expert.
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Sam Harper, expert at Cyber Citoyen.
Of all the email addresses used to create these fake websites, Sam Harper managed to link one to one Alberto Massa, who reportedly lives in Italy. This man’s email address was used to set up various companies, including a company based in Estonia.
The expert also identified a Christiana Berzins, whose email address was used to create transactional pages, particularly in Latvia.
Alberto Massa and Christiana Berzins did not respond to our interview requests.
Shuffle the cards
It is extremely difficult to find out exactly who is behind these scams. Fraudsters are compromising the situation by also commissioning legitimate companies to create their numerous advertisements or websites, reveals Catherine Dupont-Gagnon.
A whole mass of people who have businesses [légales]» can help make things easier for scammers around the world, without necessarily knowing it’s a scam, she says.
The JE Show airs tonight at 9pm on the TVA network.
Illegal pills
Our Bureau of Investigation has determined that products promoted through false advertising are not legal in Canada.
Pills sold online include Via Keto, said to be for weight loss, and Male Enhancement, said to combat erectile dysfunction. Since none of these products are approved by Health Canada, their sale is prohibited in the country.
“If the company is serious and wants to get a natural product recognized, they have one way and that is Health Canada approval. This is a guarantee of quality,” says pharmacist Diane Lamarre, who recommends being careful with these pills.
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