Channel Seven star Larry Emdur has shared a hilarious response after falling victim to an online image scam.
The Gold Logie winner’s image was spotted on Friday being used on multiple fake news stories that popped up as sponsored posts on Reddit.
But the affable host took it all in his stride, taking to Instagram on Saturday to poke a little bit of fun at the fake news.
Emdur, 60, shared a screenshot of one of the offending images that claimed to be a link to a news story about Larry saying something shocking on a ‘hot’ microphone, next to an image of Police.
Captioning the image, he revealed that when it came to speaking candidly off-air, he was a habitual offender.
‘Honestly, this is the third time I’ve been arrested for leaving my microphone on , you’d think I would’ve learned my lesson,’ Emdur joked.
Channel Seven star Larry Emdur (pictured) has shared a hilarious response after falling victim to an online image scam
The Gold Logie winner’s image was spotted on Friday being used on multiple fake news stories that popped up as sponsored posts on Reddit
He then advised followers to avoid interacting with the suspect material, revealing there were much better ways to potentially lose their money.
‘Maybe don’t click on this link if you see it, it may be a scam,’ he said. ‘Maybe just send me your money direct.’
Emdur’s clever clap-back issued a flurry of comments from fans, with many keen to keep the joke running.
‘I bought and enjoyed your book. What more do you want from me?,’ one fan asked.
Another jumped in with: ‘God I’ve already sent 2 lost of money with the other two – and you still want more!!! Haven’t you learn from hosting the Chase – you can’t be greedy.’
The offending posts, shared to Reddit by the account Fidelfromuruguay, purport to be news stories from the ABC about Emdur.
One post shows a picture of Emdur next to a group of Police with the headline: ‘Is this the end of his career. – Larry regrets his words. he didn’t know the microphone was on.
The account added: ‘How would you act in this situation,’ to the clickbait post.
The affable host took it all in his stride, taking to Instagram on Saturday to poke a little bit of fun at the fake news
Captioning the image, he revealed that when it came to speaking candidly off-air, he was a habitual offender
A second post from the same account showed Larry apparently being interviewed on a podcast.
The post read: Larry’s career is facing major problems. He didn’t notice that the microphone was switched on.’
While the posts both featured the ABC News logo, the link they took unsuspecting redditors to was anything but.
Readers would end up at the site news18breaking.com that was set uto be a replica of the ABC homepage.
The site featured a fake story, purportedly written by Alan Kohler, about the Bank Of Australia suing Emdur over on-air comments.
However the story was a thinly veiled advertisement for a get-rich-quick trading site.
The story claimed that Emdur was the host of Channel Seven’s Sunrise and featured a concocted transcript of a conversation between Emdur and fellow Seven colleague Natalie Barr about a company called Stratice.
‘This time we asked the Sunrise team for help and were able to obtain the recording data of this program,’ the scam article claimed.
The offending posts, shared to Reddit by the account Fidelfromuruguay, purport to be news stories from the ABC about Emdur. Pictured: Emdur and his wife, Silvie
Readers would end up at the site news18breaking.com that was set up to be a replica of the ABC homepage
‘Be aware that this article, like the broadcast, may be deleted immediately. Therefore, we recommend that those reading this article take a look at the link provided by Mr. Larry Emdur himself.’
It’s not the first time the Channel Seven star has been the target of an online scam.
Back in February 2024, Larry took to Instagram to alert followers about a similar post that was doing the rounds on social media.
‘People keep sending me this, it’s everywhere,’ He shared on the post of a fake news link showing Emdur, spelt Emdure, and Natalie Barr.
‘Please don’t click on it (or anything like it) it is complete and absolute bulls***. ‘
Larry rounded out his warning with a dose of his trademark humour.
‘If you’d like to offer some money to a legitimate cause close to my heart that’s not a scam then please donate to The Larry Emdur Mortgage Appeal Central Bank of Panama Account name : Happy As Inc’ Trading as : Sylvie will never find this money Pty Ltd .
‘I know times are tough but thank you.’
The site featured a fake story, purportedly written by Alan Kohler, about the Bank Of Australia suing Emdur over on-air comments. Pictured: Emdur with fellow Seven star Kylie Gillies
Former Sunrise host David ‘Kochie’ Koch blasted Meta (Facebook) in June for failing to remove scam advertisements using his likeness.
Alongside billionaire Andrew Forrest and entrepreneur Dick Smith, Koch is part of an Australian Consumer & Competition Commission lawsuit against Meta filed in 2022, accusing it of misleading conduct by allowing fraudulent ads, according to The Australian.
‘I’m just devastated by what (the scams do to) ordinary people – it’s people’s life savings,’ he said.
‘If (Meta has) algorithms that can pick up the inappropriate posts of customers on a platform, why don’t they have the same algorithms that can also pick up inappropriate advertising and content on their platforms?’ Koch asked.
The economics expert likened the scammers to ‘the new drug cartels,’ urging platforms to compensate victims or stop such ads.
‘They’re just here to rip people off financially and it’s boiler rooms in The Philippines or in Eastern Europe that’s running them all.’
‘Surely, the platforms have a responsibility to either give compensation to people who have been ripped off or to stop these ads going on the platform.’
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