AAP FACTCHECK – Foreign Minister Penny Wong is not being sued for spruiking an investment platform in an interview on an Australian TV show, despite claims on social media.
Ms Wong made no such statement nor did she give any such interview.
The claim has been shared in a Facebook post linking to an interview transcript on a suspicious webpage that resembles a news.com.au article.
“Bank of Australia is suing Penny Wong for what she said on live TV,” the post’s caption reads.
The linked article claims the senator is being sued by the non-existent “Bank of Australia” for spruiking cryptocurrency software in a TV interview.
It also includes a purported transcript of Ms Wong’s supposed interview.
Several clues indicate the supposed news.com.au article and its host webpage are fakes.
The URL is different to the news.com.au website, with the domain name “touxan.top” and the unlikely word path “nestory-irankunda-loaned-grasshopper-club-zurich-bayern-munich”.
The navigation bar links at the top of the page aren’t clickable (despite the cursor changing to a hand when hovering) and the time doesn’t change.
It also carries the byline of Adam Kohler, who is a veteran ABC finance correspondent and doesn’t write for news.com.au.
AAP FactCheck could find no record of Ms Wong ever endorsing any cryptocurrency platforms.
And while there is a bank named Bank Australia (no “of”), and the country’s central bank is called the Reserve Bank of Australia, no entity named “Bank of Australia” specifically exists.
The Verdict
False – The claim is inaccurate.
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