Introduction:
In an era dominated by digital information and the relentless pursuit of breaking news, media outlets play a pivotal role in shaping public opinion and disseminating information. While the Fourth Estate has historically been a pillar of democratic societies, the advent of the internet and social media has presented both opportunities and challenges. Among these challenges, the rise of fake news and deceptive media outlets has become a significant concern.
This tale unravels the story of one such insidious entity, a fake media outlet that is cunningly trying to exploit the vulnerabilities of our digital age. Leveraging the power of technology, this malevolent force took advantage of people’s trust, infiltrating their minds with distorted narratives, and sowing seeds of discord and confusion.
In this DFRAC exclusive report, we will investigate one such masquerading media house that goes by the name of ‘Kolkata Express’.
This comprehensive report will delve into several key aspects, providing a thorough examination of the following topics:
- Systematically Sporadic: This section aims to unveil how a non-so-authentic website is having only two Facebook pages and no other domains.
- Don’t Fake It Until You Make It, Fake It Till You Become It: This intriguing segment delves into the concept of faking the identity in different contexts until you become one.
- The Dubious Domain: Focusing on the intricate world of domain registrations, this section investigates the case of a specific domain associated with questionable characteristics.
- Information Age or Information Management Age- the section will unveil the content posted by this malicious site from an original site.
At first glance, a layman would term it as an offshoot of the popular Indian newspaper- The Indian Express but there’s more than what meets the eye.
Through our investigation, we found that the website of the Kolkata Xpress has been created only recently i.e., on July, 18, 2021 from the United States not in the name of the media house but in the name of ‘Robert’- a common pseudonym used to mark identity.
Systematically Sporadic?
It was unusual for a media outlet with no social media presence, but the team could only find two Facebook pages.
The first Facebook page was created on June 5, 2020, by the account in the name of Shalin Zaya, who according to her bio is a dancer &actress from Kerala.
It was also interesting to know that the id’s address was, on the same address as of the Indian Express head-office in India{ i.e Express Building, Block B1/B, Noida, India, 201301} along with an Indian and US number attached to the page. The page has 19K followers. The page is active till date, working tirelessly to sprout its agenda.
Timeline:
The image below the timeline of the page.
The second Facebook page was created on August 9, 2022 in which the last post is of February, 27th, 2023.
The labor doesn’t seem like a day but of years. The account have managed to bring on board a whole lot of journalists working for them. Zamshed Hossain, Md Ziaur Rahman, Md. Raju Miaand Anwar Hossainare some among the many journalists/reporters working for this media outlet. The aim was to join more and more authentic people in order to seem original.
Other journalists who have been actively sharing the K-Express across social media platforms are Zulkarnain Saer Khan, Repon Ansary who works at Kaler Kantho, Abu Raihan of Express News India, Noyon Bangladish, founder of Noyon Group Pvt. Ltd, Proyas.tv, online news portal from Dhaka and Jahid Uzzaman, a broadcast journalist.
As we dug deep the nexus, we traced an identity card of one of the journalists who claims to work for the Kolkata Express and scanned the bar-code from an online bar-code reader but to our dismay, placing the code on the identity card was just another part of the deceit.
Don’t fake it till you make it, fake it till you become it
Adding a bunch of journalists was just not enough for them. They further posted a job opening in their self-proclaimed media organization. They posted a job vacancy on August 8, 2022 which gained a fair attraction as 143 people commented on the post.
We found that many people from Bangladesh signed up for the job opportunity. The outlet also expressed its delight in welcoming the team. Appointment letters were also provided and teams were built.
Not only this, the account went a notch higher and posted about their upcoming conference in New Delhi on June 1, 2023. The announcement came with a disclaimer stating, “ Rights to cancel or postpone the conference or the participation of the candidates finally rests with Kolkata Express.”
But the team;’s critical eyes found multiple errors in the document. The haste is evidently visible from the fact that they forgot to rectify the spellings and use the same font for the text.
Not alone this but in an attempt to give a bona fide, the company charted the flight route from Dhaka to Delhi but as their track record says, the hustle preceded the endeavor.
The contact information associated with the conference were the usual numbers from India and the United States, attached with their Facebook page as well. As a part of the investigation, we tried to register for the conference but till date received no reply.
The helpline number provided regarding the Air ticket booking when investigated has been traced as fraud.
The Dubious Domains
After conducting a thorough inquiry into the registration address of the webpage, our diligent investigation led us to unveil that the origin can be traced back to Noida, a city located in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. The individual associated with the registration is identified as Laila Ahmed Runa.
Upon delving deeper into our investigation, we diligently examined the phone number provided during the registration process, which subsequently unveiled a significant discovery. Astonishingly, the location associated with the said phone number led us to Bangladesh, a captivating country situated in South Asia. This intriguing revelation raises intriguing questions and adds an additional layer of complexity to the puzzle surrounding the registered individual, Laila Ahmed Runa, and their connection to both Noida, Uttar Pradesh, and Bangladesh.
We further found three domains have been hosted on the server of the Kolkata Express. The other two being- cameleasy.com and somoyjournal.com. Cameleasy.com is an e-commerce site of camel accessories and somoyjournal.com is an online newspaper of Bangladesh.
The online media portal has been created on 2019-04-08 in the name of Abdulla Al Mahmud.
Information age or Information Management age?
Rather than writing full-fledged authentic pieces, they chose to opt for an easy way-out. The swindle was out in public when we traced the way to their original write-ups. Almost all the Bangla news articles have been an exact copy from the DW News, media and news agency of Germany.
Conclusion:
The account began with the establishment of a seemingly legitimate media outlet that presented itself as a reliable source of news and information. People were initially drawn to its polished appearance, professional design, and claims of unbiased reporting. However, as time went on, cracks began to appear in the outlet’s facade of credibility, revealing its true nature as a purveyor of deception.
Behind the scenes, the individuals running the fake media outlet had ulterior motives. Their primary goal was not to inform or educate the public but rather to manipulate and control narratives for personal gain. They embarked on a deliberate campaign of fabricating stories, distorting facts, and disseminating false information, all with the intention of shaping public opinion to suit their own agenda.
