#Factcheck-Viral Image of Men Riding an Elephant Next to a Tiger in Bihar is Misleading

Executive Summary:

A video of Pakistani Olympic gold medalist and Javelin player Arshad Nadeem wishing Independence Day to the People of Pakistan, with claims of snoring audio in the background is getting viral. CyberPeace Research Team found that the viral video is digitally edited by adding the snoring sound in the background. The original video published on Arshad's Instagram account has no snoring sound where we are certain that the viral claim is false and misleading.

Claims:

A video of Pakistani Olympic gold medalist Arshad Nadeem wishing Independence Day with snoring audio in the background.

Fact Check:

Upon receiving the posts, we thoroughly checked the video, we then analyzed the video in TrueMedia, an AI Video detection tool, and found little evidence of manipulation in the voice and also in face.

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We then checked the social media accounts of Arshad Nadeem, we found the video uploaded on his Instagram Account on 14th August 2024. In that video, we couldn’t hear any snoring sound. 

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Hence, we are certain that the claims in the viral video are fake and misleading.

Conclusion:

The viral video of Arshad Nadeem with a snoring sound in the background is false. CyberPeace Research Team confirms the sound was digitally added, as the original video on his Instagram account has no snoring sound, making the viral claim misleading.

• Claim: A snoring sound can be heard in the background of Arshad Nadeem's video wishing Independence Day to the people of Pakistan.
• Claimed on: X, 
• Fact Check: Fake & Misleading

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Executive Summary:

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Our team has come across a recent social media post highlighting a report on fraudulent activities involving deceptive websites and emails impersonating India’s Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs). These phishing scams falsely promise LPG distributorships and retail outlet dealerships, aiming to extract money and personal information from unsuspecting individuals. We strongly urge the public to exercise caution and verify all information exclusively through official OMC channels to avoid falling victim to such fraudulent schemes.

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Claim:

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It has been reported that fraudsters are impersonating Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, and Hindustan Petroleum through fake websites and emails, promising LPG distributorships and seeking money from victims.

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Fact Check:

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After our research, we came upon more information about this topic and found out that the Press Information Bureau (PIB) has released an official notice confirming that fraudulent websites and emails are impersonating India's Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs), which include Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd., and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. The scams falsely promise LPG distributorships and retail outlet dealerships while demanding large sums of money from unsuspecting individuals. On June 19, 2019, this was confirmed. The PIB highlighted that OMCs have not allowed any person or organization to charge a fee for dealership selection. All authentic information on these offers is available at the websites of the OMCs: www.iocl.com, www.bharatpetroleum.com, and www.hindustanpetroleum.com. The general public is cautioned to rely only on these sources and report suspicious approaches to the offices of concerned OMCs. If someone finds such an approach, he should immediately contact the cybercrime branch. HPCL has issued alerts on fake websites and emails that promise LPG distributorships and jobs, mimicking official HPCL sites to deceive people.

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On the official website of HPCL list down the malicious URLs. They are mentioned below:

• https://kskdealerchayan.com/
• bajajgas.com/index
• hindustanbiofuel.in
• petrolpumpchayanonline.com
• dealerchayanpetrolpump.in
• petrolpumpdealarchayan.com
• petrolpumpsdealerchayan.co.in
• petrolpumpdealershipchayan.org.in
• petrolpumpdealerchayangov.in
• petrolpumpdealership.info
• petrolpumpsdealershipchayan.in
• allindiagasdealership.com
• hindustanpetroleum.online
• hindustanpetroleumcorp.com
• hpcldelership.com
• ujjwalalpgvitarak.org
• ujjwaladealership.com
• lpgvitrakkendra.com
• kissansevakendra.org
• lpgvitarakchayanltd.org
• petrolpumpdelerchayan.in
• petrolpumpdealerschayan.in
• petrolepumpsdelearchayan.in
• kissansevakendra.org
• petrolpumpdealerchayanpro.com
• petrolpumchayanweb.com
• onlinepetrolpumpdealerchayan.com/

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HPCL also shared an advisory for their applicants regarding Beware Of Fraudsters.

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Conclusion:

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It has been proven that fraud offers for LPG distributorships and retail outlet dealerships are being made through fake websites and emails. To avoid such scams, people are advised to be more vigilant, verify all information through official OMC platforms, and immediately report any suspicious activities to the concerned authorities. Being alert and informed is the key to preventing financial loss and protecting personal data from exploitation.

• Claim: Is this HPCL approval letter for an LPG agency dealership legit?
• Claimed On: Social Media 
• Fact Check: False and Misleading

Introduction

A Reuters investigation has uncovered an elephant in the room regarding Meta Platforms' internal measures to address online fraud and illicit advertising. The confidential documents that Reuters reviewed disclosed that Meta was planning to generate approximately 10% of its 2024 revenue, i.e., USD 16 billion, from ads related to scams and prohibited goods. The findings point out a disturbing paradox: on the one hand, Meta is a vocal advocate for digital safety and platform integrity, while on the other hand, the internal logs of the company indicate the existence of a very large area allowing the shunning of fraudulent advertisement activities that exploit users throughout the world. 

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The Scale of the Problem

Internal Meta projections show that its platforms, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, are displaying a staggering 15 billion scam ads per day combined. The advertisements include deceitful e-commerce promotions, fake investment schemes, counterfeit medical products, and unlicensed gambling platforms.

Meta has developed sophisticated detection tools, but even then, the system does not catch the advertisers until they are 95% certain to be fraudsters. By having at least that threshold for removing an ad, the company is unlikely to lose much money. As a result, instead of turning the fraud adjacent advertisers down, it charges them higher ad rates, which is the strategy they call “penalty bids” internally. 

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Internal Acknowledgements & Business Dependence

Internal documents that date between 2021 and 2025 reveal that the financial, safety, and lobbying divisions of Meta were cognizant of the enormity of revenues generated from scams. One of the 2025 strategic papers even describes this revenue source as "violating revenue," which implies that it includes ads that are against Meta's policies regarding scams, gambling, sexual services, and misleading healthcare products.

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The company's top executives consider the cost-benefit scenario of stricter enforcement. According to a 2024 internal projection, Meta's half-yearly earnings from high-risk scam ads were estimated at USD 3.5 billion, whereas regulatory fines for such violations would not exceed USD 1 billion, thus making it a tolerable trade-off from a commercial viewpoint. At the same time, the company intends to scale down scam ad revenue gradually, thus from 10.1% in 2024 to 7.3% by 2025, and 6% by 2026; however, the documents also reveal a planned slowdown in enforcement to avoid "abrupt reductions" that could affect business forecasts.

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Algorithmic Amplification of Scams

One of the most alarming situations is the fact that Meta's own advertising algorithms amplify scam content. It has been reported that users who click on fraudulent ads are more likely to see other similar ads, as the platform's personalisation engine assumes user "interest."

This scenario creates a self-reinforcing feedback loop where the user engagement with scam content dictates the amount of such content being displayed. Thus, a digital environment is created which encourages deceptive engagement and consequently, user trust is eroded and systemic risk is amplified.

An internal presentation in May 2025 was said to put a number on how deeply the platform's ad ecosystem was intertwined with the global fraud economy, estimating that one-third of the scams that succeeded in the U.S. were due to advertising on Meta's platforms.

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Regulatory & Legal Implications

The disclosures arrived at the same time as the US and UK governments started to closely check the company's activities more than ever before.

• The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is said to be looking into whether Meta has had any part in the promotion of fraudulent financial ads.
• The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) found that Meta’s platforms were the main sources of scams related to online payments and claimed that the amount of money lost was more than all the other social platforms combined in 2023.

Meta’s spokesperson, Andy Stone, at first denied the accusations, stating that the figures mentioned in the leak were “rough and overly-inclusive”; nevertheless, he conceded that the company’s consistent efforts toward enforcement had negatively impacted revenue and would continue to do so.

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Operational Challenges & Policy Gaps

The internal documents also reveal the weaknesses in Meta's day-to-day operations when it comes to the implementation of its own policies.

• Because of the large number of employees laid off in 2023, the whole department that dealt with advertiser-brand impersonation was said to have been dissolved.
• Scam ads were categorised as a "low severity" issue, which was more of a "bad user experience" than a critical security risk.
• At the end of 2023, users were submitting around 100,000 legitimate scam reports per week, of which Meta dismissed or rejected 96%.

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Human Impact: When Fraud Becomes Personal

The financial and ethical issues have tangible human consequences. The Reuters investigation documented multiple cases of individuals defrauded through hijacked Meta accounts.

One striking example involves a Canadian Air Force recruiter, whose hacked Facebook account was used to promote fake cryptocurrency schemes. Despite over a hundred user reports, Meta failed to act for weeks, during which several victims, including military colleagues, lost tens of thousands of dollars.

The case underscores not just platform negligence, but also the difficulty of law enforcement collaboration. Canadian authorities confirmed that funds traced to Nigerian accounts could not be recovered due to jurisdictional barriers, a recurring issue in transnational cyber fraud.

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Ethical and Cybersecurity Implications

The research has questioned extremely important things at least from the perspective of cyber policy:

1. Platform Accountability: Meta, by its practice, is giving more importance to the monetary aspect rather than the truth, and in this way, it is going against the principles of responsible digital governance.
2. Transparency in Ad Ecosystems: The lack of transparency in digital advertising systems makes it very easy for dishonest actors to use automated processes with very little supervision.
3. Algorithmic Responsibility: The use of algorithms that impact the visibility of misleading content and targeting can be considered the direct involvement of the algorithms in the fraud.
4. Regulatory Harmonisation: The presence of different and disconnected enforcement frameworks across jurisdictions is a drawback to the efforts in dealing with cross-border cybercrime.
5. Public Trust: Users’ trust in the digital world is mainly dependent on the safety level they see and the accountability of the companies.

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Conclusion

Meta’s records show a very unpleasant mix of profit, laxity, and failure in the policy area concerning scam-related ads. The platform’s readiness to accept and even profit from fraudulent players, though admitting the damage they cause, calls for an immediate global rethinking of advertising ethics, regulatory enforcement, and algorithmic transparency.

With the expansion of its AI-driven operations and advertising networks, protecting the users of Meta must evolve from being just a public relations goal to being a core business necessity, thus requiring verifiable accountability measures, independent audits, and regulatory oversight. It is an undeniable fact that there are billions of users who count on Meta’s platforms for their right to digital safety, which is why this right must be respected and enforced rather than becoming optional.

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References

• https://www.reuters.com/investigations/meta-is-earning-fortune-deluge-fraudulent-ads-documents-show-2025-11-06/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
• https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/news/story/leaked-docs-claim-meta-made-16-billion-from-scam-ads-even-after-deleting-134-million-of-them-2815183-2025-11-07

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