A webpage impersonating Dawn was online and accessible on Thursday. The page shared fake news and disinformation while pretending to be part of the Dawn Media Group.
The website is not part of, associated with or has any connection to the Dawn Media Group.
The webpage, operating from a URL not associated with the Dawn.com web domain, has shared a ‘news report’ on business tycoon Arif Habib supposedly launching an AI platform called BTC+700 Lurot, luring readers into investing in it to earn money.
The story falsely claims that the so-called BTC +700 Lurot project was “created within the framework” of the Pakistan Digital 2030 vision, with the support of the government and “leading Pakistani enterprises”.
No information on any such development could be found through a web search.
A visual on the webpage falsely claims that Pakistan State Oil (PSO), the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and a made-up “Pakistan Telecom AI” were among the project’s “key partners”.
The webpage impersonating Dawn has several inconsistencies when compared with Dawn’s news stories.
The text of the ‘news story’ and the headline also do not conform to Dawn’s format or style.
The images used in the ‘news report’ appear to be AI-generated, with illegible Urdu text and graphics that do not match the official logos of Arif Habib Ltd.
Moreover, the webpage has a form embedded at the end that asks readers for their mobile phone numbers to sign up for the so-called trading platform. It also carries an ‘editor’s note’ vouching for the platform.
Dawn does not provide embedded forms for any third party in its stories or endorse the services promised by them.
Clicking on any of the tabs on the webpage that are supposed to take users to Dawn’s other sections leads to the same form. The form is also hyperlinked throughout the fake news story, contrary to Dawn’s practice of hyperlinking relevant pieces or sources.
The appearance of the comment section, including its font and button placements, is also starkly different from Dawn’s.
There have been past instances of webpages impersonating Dawn. Here is how you can spot them.