Fact-Check: Did CNN Take Over a Scammer’s Webcam on Live TV?
Claim: An image of a screenshot and a video claims that a scammer was exposed live on Cable Network News (CNN) after the TV station took over his webcam.
Full Text: The screenshot of the video was accompanied by the following text;
“CNN Takes Over a Scammers webcam. That look on his face when he realises the game is up…pure gold,” and the text was closed with a laughing emoji.
In another facebook post, the text reads, “A Nigerian scammer was lured by his client on CNN live broadcast and tracked by FBI… Watch.”
This was trailed by many reactions as commentators mocked the young man who was allegedly ‘caught in the act live.’
“Mr Man why you dey run, I thought you were speaking phonetic. Ole!!!,” Nickky Chy, a Facebook user commented.
“Hahahha my guy take cover …..warey,” Mc BillionDcomedian another user commented.
Verification: A quick search of the keywords on social media reveals that the claim may have emanated from September 18, 2022. Therefore, searches on CNN’s official website, Twitter handle, Instagram handle, Youtube channel and facebooks through the projected time stamps reveal that no such footage emanated directly from CNN.
Also, a reverse image search of keyframes derived from the video revealed nothing of such is associated with either CNN or any other credible platforms.
A further search on Tik Tok reveals that the clip emanated from a user @drogba_baller.
The clip was sighted by PRNigeria to have been posted by the Tik Tok user on 12th September 2022. However, it started appearing on Facebook with a misleading narrative on 19th September 2022.
The Tik Tok user @drogba_baller had created the video to create awareness against scamming as he aptly captioned it, “scamming is not good,” with hashtags #dontscam #jamaica #drogba_baller etc.
PRNigeria reports that the voice acting trend is becoming more and more popular among Tik Tok users.
Conclusion/verdict: Therefore, PRNigeria concludes that the claim that a scammer was exposed live on Cable Network News (CNN) after the TV station took over his webcam is FALSE. The video was created by a Tik Tok user to create awareness against scamming.
Credit: PR Nigeria