The UAE’s state-run news agency said it has been cloned in an apparent attempt to spread fake news about the country.
Wam tweeted on Tuesday that “attempts to fabricate the #WAM website have been made by unknown sources.” The agency’s Arabic Twitter account went on to say that Wam has “warned users of heightened risk of cyber-attacks,” and urges users “to only use the link provided on their Twitter page when accessing the website.”
Attempts to fabricate the #WAM website have been made by unknown sources. 1/2 #wamnews
— WAM News / English (@WAMNEWS_ENG) August 21, 2017
Please ensure that you continue to access #UAE news coverage via the #WAM website https://t.co/5priUg53el 2/2#wamnews
— WAM News / English (@WAMNEWS_ENG) August 21, 2017
Mohamed Al Rayssi, executive director of Wam, told The National that a static image of the real site had been copied and used to design a clone. Using that, headlines and a fake story had been written then spread on social media.
“And it is not just us, it happened yesterday to Russia Today, before that to BBC, and France 24,” he said.
“So we have been warning about this, as such fabrications have increased in the past two days.”
He said the fabricated photo that appeared on Twitter is the only story that has been attributed falsely to WAM.
Despite admitting that he did not know who was responsible, Al Rayssi told The National that, “For sure it is parties holding a grudge against the country, aiming to create tension and disturbance by publishing offensive news. For sure it is hostile parties.”
