The Chancellor Rachel Reeves said in an interview with Iain Dale on the BBC that 4,000 UK residents can sign up to an investment scheme with £200 which will see them receive up to £2,300 a month as dividends from taxes.
Both the article, and the interview are not real. This is not government policy.
A fake BBC article about UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves offering residents the chance to take part in an online investment scheme is circulating on Facebook.
The headline of the article reads: “By the order of Rachel Reeves, UK residents will start receiving income from taxes.”
The article and webpage has been made to appear as if it was published by the BBC, with the organisation’s black and white logo, a “BBC News” byline and similar typeface as used on its online articles. Screenshots of the article featuring the headline have also been circulating on Facebook.
The full piece is written as a long interview between broadcaster Iain Dale and Rachel Reeves, about a new policy to return taxes via dividends from investing unspent taxpayers money.
It says that 4,000 people who sign up with a crypto online trading platform and invest £200 will have the chance to earn up to £2,300 a month, tax free—with Ms Reeves warning there are “less than 800” spaces left.
It asks people to register using their phone number and full name, and make a deposit of £200 or more.
But this article never appeared on the real BBC News website and the conversation between the journalist and the Chancellor did not happen.
No BBC article with the headline exists, and another article with an identical headline and similar content has been flagged by the Advertising Standards Authority as a scam.
A spokesperson for the BBC told Full Fact: “I can confirm this is not a genuine BBC News article.”
The Guardian newspaper has reported on a similar version of the article, which money expert Martin Lewis warned was a scam circulating ahead of the Autumn Budget.
It also reported that an advert for that article had been flagged by the Advertising Standards Authority’s scam alert system.
There are many clues it is not a real policy, or advert. The article describes it as an interview between the BBC and Ms Reeves, but quotes the interviewer as being Iain Dale—who works for the radio station LBC.
Images supposedly showing the interview taking place also feature Mr Dale and Ms Reeves with the LBC logo visible in the background.
Additionally, clicking the BBC logo, or any of the other official-seeming website navigation options, results in an error message. The URL of the website is also unconnected to the real BBC.
At one point the piece also mentions Sky News journalist Sophy Ridge, although it misspells her surname.
We have previously debunked similar faked BBC articles, including that Martin Lewis endorsed a cryptocurrency platform in a BBC interview, and ITV journalist Robert Peston had been sued over promoting an investment scheme.
Fake articles imitating trusted news sites such as these may convince people to make financial decisions based on fake endorsements from trusted public figures. Citizens Advice describes how you can protect yourself online.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as false because the article is not real, and the Chancellor Rachel Reeves has not said that UK residents will receive “income from taxes”.
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