In July 2022, 1,000 fake Chinese SpaceX engineer profiles were discovered on LinkedIn. Their purpose: scamming. The fake profiles were all graduates of Tsinghua—China’s top university, which is notoriously difficult to get into—and were senior employees of SpaceX. These details were tailored specifically to gain the trust of people outside of China who were of Chinese descent or spoke Mandarin. Mentioning Tsinghua in their profiles would instantly garner their respect. After cultivating a friendship, the scammers would persuade their victims to invest in all sorts of things, like cryptocurrency. Read full article here
Research
Improving media literacy could boost trust towards the news, IMPRESS report suggests
The UK media is regulated by the likes of IPSO and Ofcom. The report by press regulator IMPRESS highlights the link between low levels of media literacy and trust in the news. The study found that three quarters of those who did not know if journalists were regulated did not trust the news. It suggests that improving media literacy is one way to stem the erosion of trust, and shows that audiences have an appetite for information on news processes. Stakeholders need to collaborate in order to rebuild trust in the news, and independent media is well placed to do this. Read full article here
Merv
February 1, 2023
