Digitally Altered Photo of Rowan Atkinson Circulates on Social Media
Executive Summary:
A photo claiming that Mr. Rowan Atkinson, the famous actor who played the role of Mr. Bean, lying sick on bed is circulating on social media. However, this claim is false. The image is a digitally altered picture of Mr.Barry Balderstone from Bollington, England, who died in October 2019 from advanced Parkinson’s disease. Reverse image searches and media news reports confirm that the original photo is of Barry, not Rowan Atkinson. Furthermore, there are no reports of Atkinson being ill; he was recently seen attending the 2024 British Grand Prix. Thus, the viral claim is baseless and misleading.
Claims:
A viral photo of Rowan Atkinson aka Mr. Bean, lying on a bed in sick condition.
Fact Check:
When we received the posts, we first did some keyword search based on the claim made, but no such posts were found to support the claim made.Though, we found an interview video where it was seen Mr. Bean attending F1 Race on July 7, 2024.
Then we reverse searched the viral image and found a news report that looked similar to the viral photo of Mr. Bean, the T-Shirt seems to be similar in both the images.
The man in this photo is Barry Balderstone who was a civil engineer from Bollington, England, died in October 2019 due to advanced Parkinson’s disease. Barry received many illnesses according to the news report and his application for extensive healthcare reimbursement was rejected by the East Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Group.
Taking a cue from this, we then analyzed the image in an AI Image detection tool named, TrueMedia. The detection tool found the image to be AI manipulated. The original image is manipulated by replacing the face with Rowan Atkinson aka Mr. Bean.
Hence, it is clear that the viral claimed image of Rowan Atkinson bedridden is fake and misleading. Netizens should verify before sharing anything on the internet.
Conclusion:
Therefore, it can be summarized that the photo claiming Rowan Atkinson in a sick state is fake and has been manipulated with another man’s image. The original photo features Barry Balderstone, the man who was diagnosed with stage 4 Parkinson’s disease and subsequently died in 2019. In fact, Rowan Atkinson seemed perfectly healthy recently at the 2024 British Grand Prix. It is important for people to check on the authenticity before sharing so as to avoid the spreading of misinformation.
- Claim: A Viral photo of Rowan Atkinson aka Mr. Bean, lying on a bed in a sick condition.
- Claimed on: X, Facebook
- Fact Check: Fake & Misleading
Related Blogs
Introduction
WhatsApp has become the new platform for scams, and the number of cases of WhatsApp scams is increasing daily. Just like that, a new WhatsApp scam has been started, and many WhatsApp users in India have reported receiving missed calls from unknown international numbers. Worse, one does not even have to answer the call to be scammed. A missed call is sufficient to be scammed.
Millions of populations switch from normal SMS to WhatsApp, usually, people used to get fake messages and marketing messages, but the trend of scamming has been evolving now. Most people get calls from different countries, and they are concerned about how these scammers got the numbers. WhatsApp works through VoIP networks, so no extra charges from any country exist. And about 500 million WhatsApp users are getting these scam calls, the calls are mainly on job-scams of promising part-time employment and opportunities. These types of job scam calls have been started reporting in 2023.
People reporting missed calls from countries like Ethiopia (+251), Malaysia (+60), Indonesia (+62), Vietnam (+84), etc.
The agenda of these calls are still unclear. Still, in some cases, the scammers ask for confidential information from WhatsApp users, like bank details, so the users must not reveal their personal information. Also, it is important to note that if you get any calls from a particular country, it necessarily does not mean it is from that country. Various agencies sell international numbers for WhatsApp calls.
Why has WhatsApp become a hub scam?
The generation has evolved and dumped the old SMS into WhatsApp. From school to college and offices, people use WhatsApp for their official work, as it is very easy and user-friendly, so people avoid safety measures. Generally, users need to understand the consequences of technology and use it with safeguards and awareness. Many people lose money and become victims of scams on WhatsApp as they share their confidential information. And the worse is that one does not even have to answer the call to be scammed. A missed call is sufficient to be scammed.
Before these international calls scam, the user received a call from the scam that they were from KBC, and the user won something. Then sought confidential information by the excuse that they would transfer the money to the user, and because of that user got scammed by the scammers. These scams have risen rapidly lately.
Safeguards users can use against these scam calls
WhatsApp responds to complaints regarding international calls to “block and report.”
If you have already received such calls, the best thing you can do is report and block them right away. As a result, the same number does not return to your phone, and numerous identical reports may persuade WhatsApp to delete the number entirely.
WhatsApp is also working on an update allowing users to block calls from unknown numbers on the service.
Users must modify their phone’s and app’s fundamental privacy settings to protect themselves from data breaches. The calls are directed toward app users who are actively using the app. However, by modifying the account’s appearance, a user can lessen the likelihood of being added to the scammers’ attack lists.
Limit Privacy
Begin by modifying WhatsApp’s ‘who can see’ settings. If your profile photo, last seen, and online status are visible to anybody, restrict them to persons on your contact list only. Change the About and Groups options as well.
Turn on two-factor authentication
Enabling two-factor authentication on WhatsApp adds more security to your data. In addition, the app also supports biometric protection in case of theft or loss.
Active Reporting
The users should report as soon as they see something odd or suspicious activity.
A typical question that users have is, ‘Where do the scammers acquire my phone number from?’
The answer is a little more complicated than we thought. Your data is retained on the company database from the time you sign up on a website or reveal your phone number at a store in order to take advantage of promotional offers and promotions. Due to a lack of technological infrastructure and legislation to protect personal data, a scammer can simply obtain your information.
According to Palo Alto research, India is the second most vulnerable country in the APAC region in terms of cyberattacks and data breaches. A data protection law is essential in the face of increasing calls and data breaches.
The Digital Personal Data Protection bill is set to be introduced in the parliament’s monsoon session. The bill has the potential to protect data, which will help to eliminate scams.
Conclusion
Several people had tweeted on tweeter about receiving fake calls on WhatsApp from international numbers more than once. WhatsApp encrypts calls and messages, making it difficult to track the person, and it appears that hackers are taking advantage of this to swindle customers. If you receive a WhatsApp call from any of the above ISD codes, we strongly advise you not to answer it and to block the number so the bad actors do not call you again. Report & block immediately that’s what WhatsApp has been responding to the complainants.
Introduction
According to a shocking report, there are multiple scam loan apps on the App Store in India that charge excessive interest rates and force users to pay by blackmailing and harassing them. Apple has prohibited and removed these apps from the App Store, but they may still be installed on your iPhone and running. You must delete any of these apps if you have downloaded them. Learn the names of these apps and how they operated the fraud.
Why Apple banned these apps?
- Apple has taken action to remove certain apps from the Indian App Store. These apps were engaging in unethical behaviour, such as impersonating financial institutions, demanding high fees, and threatening borrowers. Here are the titles of these apps, as well as what Apple has said about their suspension.
- Following user concerns, Apple removed six loan apps from the Indian App Store. Loan apps include White Kash, Pocket Kash, Golden Kash, Ok Rupee, and others.
- According to multiple user reviews, certain apps seek unjustified access to users’ contact lists and media. These apps also charge exorbitant fees that are not necessitated. Furthermore, companies have been found to engage in unethical tactics such as charging high-interest rates and “processing fees” equal to half the loan amount.
- Some lending app users have reported being harassed and threatened for failing to return their loans on time. In some circumstances, the apps threatened the user’s contacts if payment was not completed by the deadline. According to one user, the app company threatened to produce and send false photographs of her to her contacts.
- These loan apps were removed from the App Store, according to Apple, because they broke the norms and standards of the Apple Developer Program License Agreement. These apps were discovered to be falsely claiming financial institution connections.
Issue of Fake loan apps on the App Store
- The App Store and our App Review Guidelines are designed to ensure we provide our users with the safest experience possible,” Apple explained. “We do not tolerate fraudulent activity on the App Store and have strict rules against apps and developers who attempt to game the system.
- In 2022, Apple blocked nearly $2 billion in fraudulent App Store sales. Furthermore, it rejected nearly 1.7 million software submissions that did not match Apple’s quality and safety criteria and cancelled 428,000 developer accounts due to suspected fraudulent activities.
- The scammers also used heinous tactics to force the loanees to pay. According to reports, the scammers behind the apps gained access to the user’s contact list as well as their images. They would morph the images and then scare the individual by sharing their fake nude photos with their whole contact list.
Dangerous financial fraud apps have surfaced on the App Store
- TechCrunch acquired a user review from one of these apps. “I borrowed an amount in a helpless situation, and a day before the repayment due date, I got some messages with my picture and my contacts in my phone saying that repay your loan or they will inform our contacts that you are not paying the loan,” it said.
- Sandhya Ramesh, a journalist from The Print, recently tweeted a screenshot of a direct message she got. A victim’s friend told a similar story in the message.
- TechCrunch contacted Apple, who confirmed that the apps had been removed from the App Store for breaking the Apple Developer Program License Agreement and guidelines.
Conclusion
Recently, some users have claimed that some quick-loan applications, such as White Kash, Pocket Kash, and Golden Kash, have appeared on the Top Finance applications chart in recent days. These apps necessitate unauthorised and intrusive access to users’ contact lists and media. According to hundreds of user evaluations, these apps charged exorbitantly high and useless fees. They used unscrupulous techniques such as demanding “processing fees” equal to half the loan amount and charging high-interest rates. Users were also harassed and threatened with restitution. If payments were not made by the due date, the lending applications threatened to notify users’ contacts. According to one user, the app provider even threatened to generate phoney nude images of her and send them to her contacts.
Executive Summary:
On 20th May, 2024, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and several others died in a helicopter crash that occurred northwest of Iran. The images circulated on social media claiming to show the crash site, are found to be false. CyberPeace Research Team’s investigation revealed that these images show the wreckage of a training plane crash in Iran's Mazandaran province in 2019 or 2020. Reverse image searches and confirmations from Tehran-based Rokna Press and Ten News verified that the viral images originated from an incident involving a police force's two-seater training plane, not the recent helicopter crash.
Claims:
The images circulating on social media claim to show the site of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's helicopter crash.
Fact Check:
After receiving the posts, we reverse-searched each of the images and found a link to the 2020 Air Crash incident, except for the blue plane that can be seen in the viral image. We found a website where they uploaded the viral plane crash images on April 22, 2020.
According to the website, a police training plane crashed in the forests of Mazandaran, Swan Motel. We also found the images on another Iran News media outlet named, ‘Ten News’.
The Photos uploaded on to this website were posted in May 2019. The news reads, “A training plane that was flying from Bisheh Kolah to Tehran. The wreckage of the plane was found near Salman Shahr in the area of Qila Kala Abbas Abad.”
Hence, we concluded that the recent viral photos are not of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's Chopper Crash, It’s false and Misleading.
Conclusion:
The images being shared on social media as evidence of the helicopter crash involving Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi are incorrectly shown. They actually show the aftermath of a training plane crash that occurred in Mazandaran province in 2019 or 2020 which is uncertain. This has been confirmed through reverse image searches that traced the images back to their original publication by Rokna Press and Ten News. Consequently, the claim that these images are from the site of President Ebrahim Raisi's helicopter crash is false and Misleading.
- Claim: Viral images of Iranian President Raisi's fatal chopper crash.
- Claimed on: X (Formerly known as Twitter), YouTube, Instagram
- Fact Check: Fake & Misleading
