Nationalist Party leader Bernard Grech has expressed his concern about “fake news tactics aimed at confusing voters”. He invited Prime Minister Robert Abela to look into the matter.

The PN leader was referring to a recent spate of fake news items and fake emails that have been making the rounds on social media.

Scammers have also tried to catfish journalists with fake emails, the latest being purportedly sent by PN MP Jason Azzopardi and civil society activist Manuel Delia.

Several media houses were “accidentally” copied into an email thread between Azzopardi and Delia, but The Malta Independent has traced the emails back to a website that allows uses to send fake emails that appear to originate from real email accounts.

Earlier today, another fake news item that was being shared on the social media also regarded Azzopardi, clearly a target for the scammers. The story emanated from a fake website named “newsbook.one” (see screenshot below)

It is understood that a report has been filed with the police.

In his post this afternoon, Grech said: “It is worrying to see an increase in fake news tactics aimed at confusing voters, especially as we head closer to a general election."

“Journalism is essential to democracy and any deliberate attempts to undermine it must be fought forcefully.

“Whoever is behind these tactics, government and Opposition must unite to ensure police have all the recourses necessary to fight this form of cybercrime.

“I invite Robert Abela to a discussion on how we can strengthen laws and police resources to tackle such issues ahead of the next election.”