OK, first of all, let me start off by saying that, obviously, Mike Hosking is not behind this scam. It’s a Meta user going by the name Gabriel ‘FalleN’ Toledo.
Also, allow me to admit that I spent about 2-3 minutes reading this “article” before I realised it was a scam. I hadn’t noticed the URL didn’t match NZHerald’s actual URL. I hadn’t even noticed the typo of “sad day for *the* New Zealand” in the title.
Instead, I was sucked in by the drama of a “slip up”. Rookie stuff from me.
Luckily, I came to my senses when the article started discussing a get-rich scheme called “the platform”. It was only then that I realised the link was to a dodgy URL, and only after that, I realised that the URL itself wasn’t actually the NZ Herald.
Needless to say, don’t sign up to anything on “the platform”. Don’t click on the link. Don’t enter any personal information. Just do what I did: close the page immediately, go back to Facebook, and click the three dots (hamburger menu) next to the “ad” and report it as spam to Meta.
If you have paid for any services offered via this ad, I suggest you contact you bank ASAP and get them to investigate your recent payments.
It’s also a good idea to get some good antivirus, which can help protect you from dodgy URLs. It really is a sad day for “the New Zealand” and “the Facebook”.
Note that I reported this scam to Meta a few weeks ago, and now it’s back again.
