Fnalysis.
❌ 100% false, fact-checked
Deepfake videos of financial journalist Alan Kohler and Reserve Bank of Australia governor Michele Bullock showed them recommending cryptocurrency investment platforms
Social media ads used AI-generated videos featuring the face and voice of well-known Australian financial journalist Alan Kohler and Michele Bullock, governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, supposedly endorsing crypto trading platforms with guaranteed returns. The videos were used to lure victims to fake news websites as "social proof" before funneling them to fraudulent investment pages.
Why it's false: Neither Kohler nor Bullock has ever recorded or endorsed any investment platform: these are deepfakes. Australia's financial regulator (ASIC) warned in August 2026 that this kind of scam using public figures had surged 182% in a year, with over 19,400 online scams removed in that fiscal year alone, and losses of AU$7.4 million from impersonation of well-known public figures alone. No central bank governor recommends trading platforms on Instagram.
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