Facebook users are sharing screenshots of bank transaction notifications showing thousands of dollars in earnings, all thanks to a financial trader named Maria Marcal.
But the screenshots are fake and “Maria Marcal” is not the woman in the profile photos on the Facebook account (archived here).
AAP FactCheck has previously analysed dozens of Facebook accounts of supposed financial traders who have used deception and fake images to target people in the Pacific Islands (such as here, here, and here).
One account targeting people in Papua New Guinea scammed a victim out of more than 15,000 kina (about $A6000).
AAP FactCheck has since come across similar Facebook accounts, this time aimed at users in Australia and New Zealand.
In a Facebook account with few details or posts, Maria Marcal claims to be a Texas-based entrepreneur and account manager at “Bitcoin mining”.
However, a reverse image search on the profile’s photos reveals she’s not the person she claims to be in the images.
The profile’s cover photo is taken from this post on the Instagram account for Chyna Bethley, founder of US-based wealth creation organisation “Rich University“. Bethley has no connection to the Marcel account.
Marcal has been praised by several Australia and New Zealand-based Facebook profiles, whose accounts appear to have been hacked or duplicated.
The posts use identical wording, claiming she helped them to make more than $10,000 within hours (see here, here and here).
One of the posts came from the Facebook page belonging to New Zealand-based catering company From Our Kitchen Catering (archived here).
Ingrid Vanderley of From Our Kitchen Catering confirmed to AAP FactCheck that her page had been hacked and she had not posted anything about Bitcoin trading or Marcal.
The posts also included screenshots of mobile phone alerts from the Commonwealth Bank as proof of their earnings.
But a Commonwealth Bank representative confirmed to AAP FactCheck in an email that the screenshots do not show legitimate messages from the bank.
The Commonwealth Bank has also addressed the posts on its website, alerting the public that “fictitious and compromised social media accounts are posting that a ‘Crypto Broker’ … helped them make significant sums.”
“A mix of screenshots is used displaying fake notifications, accounts and balances. The scammers misuse the CommBank brand, app and website to try and legitimise their scam.”
The Verdict
The claim that bank transaction notifications show vast sums of money made by financial trader Maria Marcal is false.
The notifications are fake and the image of the supposed trader is actually a woman called Chyna Bethley.
False — The claim is inaccurate.
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