Cybersecurity firm CTM360 has identified over 17,000 baiting news sites that mimic legitimate news sites like CNN, the BBC and CNBC.
These baiting news sites are used by scammers to spread and promote investment fraud at scale.
In a report published in July 2025, CTM360 said the fraudulent news sites appeared across 50 countries and are often tailored to local audiences and written in native languages.
The biggest target region was the Middle East where CTM360 identified over 10,000 baiting news sites.
The sites publish fake news stories that link public figures and financial institutions to fabricated investment schemes to build trust and get engagement from victims.
CTM360 researchers found that most of these news sites use free or low-cost top-level domains such as .xyz, .shop and .click. In many cases, scammers compromise legitimate domains to host fake news pages, making detection and takedown more challenging.
Scammers lure victims through sponsored ads on Google, Meta and blog platforms, promoting fake news articles that impersonate trusted media outlets.
The fake sites direct victims to a registration form which is often branded as a legitimate trading service.
This form collects personal information including name, phone number and email address.
Once submitted, the victim is told to expect a call from an investment “expert” who will talk them through the next steps. This typically involves pushing the victim to provide more personal information like national ID and banking details as well as encouraging them to make an initial deposit to activate the fake trading account.
Victims appear to have access to a trading platform following registration, however this is fake.
While it may display an account dashboard showing profits, no actual trading occurs and these figures are fabricated to deceive victims into making additional deposits.
The scams also include withdrawal traps in which victims are scammed again if they attempt to withdraw profits.
These withdrawal scams see victims told they must complete additional verifications, pay unlock fees or meet new “minimum balancesˮ before the funds can be released.
Other issues include withdrawal options being disabled citing issues like system errors or processing limits.
