Spoof emails saga: Strada Rjali, Net News latest victims

Media houses Strada Rjali and Net News are the latest victims of a spoof email saga, with clone websites set up impersonating both portals.

The latest email sent to MaltaToday by a spoof Strada Rjali email account alleges that lawyer and Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi attempted to bribe Edward Zammit Lewis with some €500 notes.

The person who wrote the spoof cited Robert Aquilina, president of Repubblika and the source of this information.

A separate email, claiming to be sent by the Nationalist Party’s media portal Net News, alleges that Azzopardi is a cocaine user and was treated for this “addiction” in South Africa a few years ago.

In reaction to the claims, Azzopardi took to Facebook to announce that he filed a criminal complaint. “Of course, the real Netnews.com.mt has nothing to do with this criminal conspiracy,” he said.

Azzopardi alleges that the person behind these spoof emails is being backed by Maltese lawyers, the wife of an accused, and a Bulgarian IT expert that is being paid €1,500 an hour.

“A message from my side to the mastermind behind this garbage: neither you, nor your coked-up drug addicts nor the Bulgarian IT expert who is being paid € 1,500 an hour to make this gardbage will scare me or stop me,” he said.

Repubblika issued a warning on their side after their website was spoofed. The group described these spoofs as a “co-ordinated attack on Jason Azzopardi, Manuel Delia, Net News and Newsbook designed to undermine our credibility in the fight for truth and justice.

“They will not prevail. Always check the source of the news you read,” it said.

Opposition leader Bernard Grech said these fake news tactics are particularly worrying given Malta is heading to a general election soon. He added that government and Opposition must come together to make sure police have the necessary resources to fight this form of cybercrime.

“I invite Robert Abela to a discussion on how we can strengthen laws and police resources to tackle such issues ahead of the next election,” he said.

Malta’s major media houses have received several emails over the past week masquerading as a variety of persons and entities. The first emails were meant to impersonate blogger Manuel Delia, with a spoof of his website being set up earlier last week.

Delia explained the situation through a blog post and said that he was dealing with the ordeal with the police, lawyers and authorities.