00:00The Facebook page Transact Trade Limited is purporting to be a trading company
00:05where people can invest and cash out big in as little as 24 hours. The logo
00:10uploaded to the site is similar to a company that is said to be based in the
00:14United Kingdom which only goes by the name Transact offering people a
00:18platform to buy and sell cryptocurrency. TV6 News is unable to confirm if that
00:23company is legitimate as the phone number provided online is out of service
00:28but an online AI overview suggests that a UK company Transact is registered with
00:34a UK Financial Conduct Authority FCA. As it pertains to the Facebook page a few
00:40local public figures were alarmed to find that their images were circulating
00:45with an entirely different accent through AI manipulation endorsing
00:50investments through Transact Trade Limited such as TTT's news anchor and
00:55journalist Mahalia Joseph-Wotan.
00:58Thank you very much Mrs. Adriana. I just received my payout of
01:03180,000 TT dollars paid successfully into my Royal Bank account. I really
01:10appreciate your good works here trading with Transact Trade Limited.
01:14Then there is a video of Miss TNT world Asha Abrahams.
01:18Everyone it's a thing of joy to announce to the public the transparency of this
01:24platform to my people here in Trinidad and Tobago. I can proudly say this is the
01:30only platform I have benefited from since I started my trading journey with
01:35Mrs. Adriana. The situation has caused concern as expressed by Joseph-Wotan who
01:41took to her social media platforms asking her followers to report the video
01:45for fear of the harm that it can cause. It's leaving me a bit stressed out
01:49because you know I really don't want to be I really don't want my face to be the
01:55reason that somebody falls for this scam especially you know seniors because you
02:00know how our moms and aunties uncles kind of fall for things that they see
02:04online so I really really hope that they don't believe that that video is me
02:10although it looks really really fake.
02:12Businessman Gary Abood who is corporate secretary of
02:15Fishermen and Friends of the Sea didn't escape either.
02:18Abood says his company Moda Live also assists startup and small businesses
02:23through investments with no return.
02:25Now I'm well known in Trinidad and Tobago and many
02:28people believe and trust what we say because we always speak the truth. We
02:33seek the interest of everyone and so God blesses us but this international
02:39fraudster group Transac has stolen my image and and used my face to create a
02:45video encouraging our poor to invest $5,000 in a Ponzi scheme where they're
02:52saying they're gonna give you back $25,000 the day later and God forbid any
02:56of our people get caught.
02:58Abood is calling on people to be aware about these Ponzi
03:01schemes where people are promised large payouts for their relatively small
03:05investments but that's not all.
03:07I'm calling on the government of Trinidad and Tobago
03:09to use the fraud squad here in Trinidad to contact the inter police
03:15Interpol they're called to contact the British government the Transac has a
03:19British number and a British address we believe they're from Nigeria but they
03:23should all be arrested on their assets seized and returned to all the poor
03:28people who were caught by these lies and tricks. The government of Trinidad and
03:32Tobago and the fraud squad has a duty to protect us like we have a duty to
03:37protect each other.
03:39Abood and Joseph Wotten's videos can no longer be found on the
03:42page but as at news time Abrahams's video was still featured on the fraudulent
03:48page. TV6 News tried calling the fraud squad for a response we were instead
03:53advised to channel the questions through the TTPS corporate communications unit
03:58which we did via email. We are awaiting feedback Alicia Boucher TV6 News
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