The risks posed by fake news being spread on social media has never been more serious than during the Covid-19 pandemic. Whereas traditionally fake news has set out to mislead or undermine campaigns, during the pandemic criminal profit has been a growing motive.
The trend is highlighted by a new study from the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, which found thousands of social media posts linking to financial scams and counterfeit goods related to the virus.
“We started this work with the opioid crisis and have been performing research like this for many years in order to detect illicit drug dealers,” the researchers explain. “We are now using some of those same techniques in this study to identify fake COVID-19 products for sale. From March to May 2020, we have identified nearly 2,000 fraudulent postings likely tied to fake COVID-19 health products, financial scams, and other consumer risk.”
Two waves
The research revealed that the fraudulent posts arrived in two waves, and revolved around false claims about cures, prevention, or testing kits. A third wave is now beginning to form around fake pharmaceutical treatments, which the researchers believe will worsen as vaccines begin to be released.
The suspect posts were identified using natural language processing and machine learning. They spotted topical clusters, which were then transferred into a deep learning algorithm to detect individual posts. These were then ported into a visual data dashboard to help support public health intellience.
“We’re in a post-digital era and as this boom of digital adoption continues, we will see more of these fraudulent postings targeting consumers as criminals seek to take advantage of those in need during times of a crisis,” the researchers say.
The researchers identify a number of steps we can take to help prevent ourselves from being taken in by the scams:
- If it’s too good to be true, it probably is. Look out for mentions of bulk or rapid sales, cheap pricing and questionable claims such as FDA approval or specific certifications.
- Importing products from another country. If you’re a United States consumer, it is likely illegal to import products such as COVID-19 tests from another country. Such purchases should be considered risky.
- Illegitimate contact methods. If the seller is conducting business or a transaction through social media direct messages or another non-traditional communications application, including Skype or WhatsApp, it probably isn’t legitimate.
“We recommend that anyone concerned of contracting COVID-19 or hoping to be tested first work with their personal health care provider or local public health agency to ensure safe access to testing or treatment, and report any suspicious activity to federal authorities,” the researchers conclude.
“Our hope is that the results from this study will better inform social media users so they can better decipher between fraudulent and legitimate posts. We conducted this research with the goal that eventually it will lead to improved tools and policy changes so that social media can be used as a force for good.”
