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  • 2022-03-14 (xsd:date)
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  • Mayim Bialik Targeted in Phony CBD Gummies Endorsement, False Allegations (en)
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  • In early March 2022, we reviewed false and scammy online ads that claimed there was news of allegations against actor and Jeopardy host Mayim Bialik that had been confirmed, as well as a fake Fox News article that said she had endorsed Premium Jane CBD gummies that could help to reverse dementia. The story was made to appear like a real Fox News article but was not created by the company. The ad and article appeared to have been created in China. One week after our fact check was published, Bialik addressed the rumors on her Instagram page: On March 21, she wrote: Hi everyone. So... awkward: there are many untrue things floating around the internet about many public figures, but I want to address one about me that looks very authentic but is indeed a hoax. I am not selling CBD Gummies of any kind and do not plan to do so at any point in the future. I have tried to get this removed to no avail. It's not real. One of the ads with Bialik's picture read: Allegation [sic] Against Mayim Bialik Have Been Confirmed. Another ad claimed to be from Fox News and had the words, we say goodbye, with the following text: Allegation [sic] Against Mayim Bialik Have Been Confirmed. It also read: 'Jeopardy' fans are up in arms over the allegations pending against Mayim Bialik. Here is all the information... Upon clicking the false ads about unspecified allegations against Bialik, we were led to pages on denuvo.fun and kushlystore.uk.com that appeared to resemble the Fox News website, but in reality, had nothing to do with Fox News. This lookalike tactic was a strategy by the website creators to fool readers into believing it was legitimate. According to records, denuvo.fun and kushlystore.uk.com were registered on a Chinese web domain registrar less than one month earlier. The fake Fox News article on denuvo.fun and kushlystore.uk.com were only visible to readers who clicked the ad. Any attempt to copy and paste the same link to the story without the ad's referral code at the end of it resulted in the page showing a fake online store called Bodega. For example, if the website was denuvo.fun/?fbclid=123example, and the code ?fbclid=123example was removed from the link, it would show the fake online store instead of the fake Bialik endorsement. This was an attempt by the website creators to cloak the fake Bialik endorsement from the eyes of anyone who might be investigating it. The article about Premium Jane CBD gummies used Bialik's image and likeness and mentioned nothing about any allegations being confirmed. The mention of allegations was nothing more than misleading clickbait. The byline for the story showed the name for Fox News personality Brit Hume. The article claimed that Bialik was interviewed by Fox News host Martha MacCallum and that the pair had a heated exchange. According to the bogus story, Bialik's insistence on endorsing Premium Jane CBD on the show led to MacCallum wanting her to be indicted. The article also featured a fake quote from fellow Fox News host Tucker Carlson that read: Premium Jane CBD has completely changed my life and it's clear that MacCallum is attempting a coup. According to Google Trends, her image and likeness may also have been appearing elsewhere. A search for Bialik's name led to mentions of Kushly CBD, Green Otter CBD Gummies, Clinical CBD Gummies, and Smilz CBD Gummies. The misleading article that was written to look like it came from Fox News, but in reality had nothing to do with the company, read as follows: We've seen this same strategy before with fake CBD endorsements featuring actor Tom Selleck (twice), talk show hosts Oprah Winfrey and Whoopi Goldberg, and late Jeopardy host Alex Trebek. These instances also included the cloaking technique that made it difficult to return to the fake endorsement page at a later date. For example, the fake CBD endorsement for Selleck later showed a video rental page: According to The New York Times, actor Clint Eastwood once sued and won a $6.1 million lawsuit after a Lithuanian company was accused of using Mr. Eastwood's image and likeness to make it appear as though he was endorsing their products. We contacted the Premium Jane CBD gummies company on March 9, reaching out to the support email address listed on its website. We asked about its privacy policy, which listed a mailing address in Scottsdale, Arizona, and if the company was aware of the websites that hosted the fake article. We also inquired about the name Premium Jane CBD and wanted to know if the product went under multiple names. This tactic, if it was being used, would allow the product to keep being sold, even if one of the names received negative reviews or bad press. Premium Jane CBD did not respond within five days. In sum, Bialik did not have any allegations against her confirmed, nor did the Jeopardy host endorse Premium Jane CBD, Kushly CBD, Green Otter CBD Gummies, Clinical CBD Gummies, and Smilz CBD Gummies. Note: Bialik has shared hosting duties on Jeopardy with Ken Jennings. Jennings' name did not appear in the misleading ads or fake endorsements. (en)
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