The Government of the Virgin Islands is reminding the public that there are suspicious publications bearing the image of Premier and Minister of Finance the Honourable Andrew A. Fahie alongside what appears to be official documents of the Virgin Islands circulating on social media channels, which is fake news.

Premier Fahie in a recent statement regarding a similar publication said, “It unfortunate that persons would find time to engage in malicious smear tactics and fabricate stories to deliberately misinform the public about the work of the Government of the Virgin Islands, and worse yet prey on unsuspecting, innocent persons by piquing their curiosity with fake, sensational publications.”

The Premier stated that the consequences for persons who fall victim to whatever scam is being perpetrated by these fake news and websites can be very devastating.

“As such, I am appealing to members of our community to assist in conveying this message to your family, friends, co-workers and the wider public, so that persons can be aware and avoid harm. Let us be our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers in this regard,” Premier Fahie cautioned.

The Premier said other ill-intentioned articles and software can lead to theft of data such as personal photos, friends and business associates’ contact information from persons electronic address books, and banking information and can also lead to identity theft.  As such, persons are asked to be aware of such malicious activities.

The Territory’s leader further expressed that one of the lessons learnt while working on the Cybercrime Computer Misuse & Cybercrime (Amendment) Act of 2019 and one which he encourages members of the public to be mindful of, is that electronic defamation is real and persons must exercise caution as the webpage and the domain linked to the fake news posts have characteristics that are usually associated with online scams that can affect computer and mobile phones with viruses and other malware.

The Premier’s complete statement on the matter can be found on the Government of the Virgin Islands website www.gov.vg.