RTÉ issues warning about fake adverts using its branding and presenters

The national broadcaster has issued a warning to its audience about adverts using RTÉ branding and in some cases 'deep fake' technology which portrays reports by RTÉ presenters which never occurred. 

A statement from RTÉ on its websites encourages their audience to exercise due caution regarding fake websites, social media advertisements, news articles and emails.

"We are aware of misleading material circulating on social media which replicates RTÉ branding, features RTÉ newscasters and presenters, and purports to be official RTÉ content. In some cases, ‘deep fake’ technology can be used to portray reports by RTÉ presenters which never actually occurred," RTÉ stated.

It outlined that this content will frequently advertise financial products, investments or cryptocurrency schemes and suggest that consumers of these products can expect to receive large amounts of money in a short period of time.

"Please note that RTÉ would never advertise such products in this manner and, while we make every effort to prevent material of this type appearing online, we cannot eliminate the fraudulent misuse of our branding and intellectual property.

"We are not responsible for third party content and strongly recommend that individuals avoid any engagement with these advertisements. If you have been the victim of cyber-crime, you can find further guidance on how to report this on the website of An Garda Síochána," RTÉ stated.

"If you encounter a fake advertisement on social media which misuses RTÉ content, this can be reported directly to the relevant social media company or third party on their dedicated ‘report abuse’ webpages.

"If you would like to check if a third party website, email or video is legitimate, you can contact RTÉ at info@rte.ie. Please ensure that you include all available details regarding the content, particularly the web address or url which can be used to locate the content online," RTÉ said in its statement. 

RTÉ said that it takes fraud seriously and asks its audience to do the same. "If you encounter suspicious content, please report it immediately," it said.