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PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

Economy & business fact checks

Explore claims publishers have checked about economy & business. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.

7,093 published reviews in this topic

dpaEconomy & business

Kaag heeft gezegd dat geld niet gelukkig maakt, als reactie op de hoge inflatie.

Publisher’s rating: Het artikel dat als bron wordt gebruikt komt van de satirische nieuwssite Nieuwspaal. De geschreven uitspraken zijn niet echt van minister Kaag.

The claim concerns a specific online article attributing to Dutch finance minister Sigrid Kaag the words that a partner’s loving look, a child’s hug and a beautiful sunrise are more valuable than money. The review says the claim circulated as a response to high inflation, and that some people repeated the quotation without linking to the article. It identifies the quotation as inauthentic: “de minister heeft deze uitspraken nooit gedaan.” The review traces the attribution to an article on Nieuwspaal, whose original version it says was published on 30 September 2022. It notes that the circulating screenshot included the name “Nieuwspaal” in the image of Kaag, and that searching for the headline led to the original article. The review’s central finding is that the words were satire, not a genuine statement by the minister. The review contrasts the viral quotation with Kaag’s actual response to rising inflation: it reports that she called the situation “vreselijk” (terrible). Thus the high-inflation setting is real, but the cheerful quotation attributed to her is not presented as her actual response.

dpaEconomy & business

Über die angegebene Seite können günstig Holzpellets erworben werden.

Publisher’s rating: Viele Indizien lassen darauf schließen, dass hinter der Seite «Holzmarkt» eine Betrugsmasche steckt. Die Preise liegen weit unter dem Durchschnitt, als Zahlungsmittel wird nur Vorkasse akzeptiert, die Lieferung ist bereits in den Preisen inkludiert, die Fotos der Pellets sind aus dem Internet zusammengesucht, die Kontaktnummer ändert sich und stammt aus Deutschland, in den Bewertungen warnen Facebook-Nutzer vor der Kontaktaufnahme mit «Holzmarkt».

The claim concerns whether consumers could buy wood pellets cheaply through the Facebook page «Holzmarkt». The review examined that page’s pellet offers and concluded that several signs pointed to a likely scam. It reports a price of €4 for a 15-kilogram sack, with delivery included; the review compared this with an Austrian September 2022 average of €8.54 for the same quantity. A pallet of 65 sacks was advertised for €260, versus a stated comparable retail value of €555. The low advertised price was not, by itself, evidence that a genuine bargain was available. The review found that the page named Benin as the managers’ location but had no contact details or legal notice, and that its stated address in Kärnten was an apartment building with no apparent warehouse or timber business. Its only contact route was WhatsApp at a German-numbered phone line, which changed between 16 and 17 September without a separate notice. The review also examined the pellet images: it describes pictures with poor quality or clues to other countries, including a lighter bearing an Indonesian company’s label. A Yandex image search reportedly found the same photo on Alibaba seller pages. The review further compared the advertised goods and prices with a Romanian webshop listing, and noted negative Facebook reviews warning of fraud and advance payment. Taken together, these checks support treating the offer with serious caution; they do not establish that a consumer could safely obtain pellets at the advertised price.

dpaEconomy & business

In Deutschland gibt es einen Produktionsstopp für Apfelsaftschorle. Der Grund dafür sind kriegsbedingt unterbrochene Lieferketten für Apfelsaft-Konzentrat aus der Ukraine.

Publisher’s rating: Die Behauptung ist falsch. Es gibt keinen Produktionsstopp für Apfelsaftschorle - weder in Deutschland noch in Österreich. Das bestätigten die jeweiligen Verbände der Fruchtsaftindustrie auf dpa-Nachfrage. Auf dem Markt gebe es genügend Konzentrat für die Herstellung von Apfelschorle, erklärten Verbandsvertreter.

dpaEconomy & business

Dies sind Gewinnspiele der Discounter-Kette Action.

Publisher’s rating: Die Angebote sind unseriös und haben nichts mit Action zu tun. Die Discounter-Kette warnt auf ihrer Website vor solchen Gewinnspielen.

The claim concerns Facebook giveaways presented as celebrations of the Action discount chain’s birthday, with iPhones or shopping bags supposedly offered to people who shared posts and commented. The review says that several pages used this pitch and that the offers were designed to obtain users’ data. Action’s website, as reported by the review, warned that customers were increasingly targeted by phishing attempts seeking personal information and told them not to participate in the fake promotions. (S1) The review assessed whether the pages were really connected to Action by comparing them with the company’s verified Facebook account and looking at the giveaway accounts themselves. Action’s verified account was linked from its website and had 2.5 million followers; the accounts advertising the offers were not linked there, had fewer than 1,000 followers as of 28 September 2022, and lacked Facebook’s verification badge. The review also reports that the suspect pages had no legal notice or other posts and had been created only in September 2022, unlike Action’s account, which had existed for more than ten years. (S1) The birthday imagery offered another check: the suspect pages showed a woman holding a balloon marked “25 years,” but the review notes that Action’s first store opened in Enkhuizen, the Netherlands, in 1993—29 years earlier. It also traced one image used in the false promotion to the opening of an Action store in Spain on 3 December 2021; the company had published that photo on LinkedIn. Together, the account details, implausible anniversary, and image provenance support the finding that the advertised giveaways were not Action promotions. (S1)

dpaEconomy & business

Das ist ein Gewinnspiel der Filiale Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg des Fahrradhändlers Stadler.

Publisher’s rating: Es handelt sich nicht um eine offizielle Verlosung von Stadler. Das Angebot ist unseriös.

The claim concerns a Facebook giveaway presented as being run by Stadler’s Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg branch. The review investigated an alleged Stadler giveaway of gift bags, promoted as a celebration of the company’s 29th anniversary. Participants were asked to comment “fertig” and share the post. The review’s findings indicate that the promotion was not an official Stadler contest. The review compared the giveaway page with Stadler’s verified Facebook account, which was linked from the company’s website and had more than 11,000 followers. By contrast, the page hosting the giveaway had no followers and had only been created on September 27, 2022. It also lacked an imprint, and the review says the Stadler logo was being used without authorization. The location detail in the claim is not supported by the review: it says a photo on the giveaway page showed Stadler’s Berlin-Charlottenburg branch, not a Prenzlauer Berg branch. The review also notes that Stadler was founded in 1936 and that the Charlottenburg branch opened in 2000, so neither fit the page’s claim that the company was celebrating a 29th anniversary. Taken together, these details support the conclusion that the giveaway was not an official Stadler promotion, while the specific attribution to Prenzlauer Berg is not established by the reviewed evidence.

dpaEconomy & business

Du bois de feuillus à vendre à 40 euros la stère.

Publisher’s rating: « Couillonnade », certifie crument à la dpa un exploitant forestier situé dans la région très boisée de l’Ardenne belge. « Ces prix sont impossibles », confirme la Fédération belge des experts forestiers. Grossière arnaque, donc.

The review examines a Facebook offer in Belgium for dry hardwood firewood at €40 per stere, with delivery and stacking included for orders of at least five steres. It reports that the seller attributed the low price to a surplus. The investigators describe warning signs in the post: comments were disabled, the profile was empty and gave no way to locate the seller, and contact was requested only through private messages. The article does not identify the seller by name. [S1: “Une internaute affirme sur Facebook, en Belgique, qu’en raison d’un « surplus », elle peut livrer à ses éventuels clients du bois de chauffage sec issu de feuillus au prix de 40 euros la stère, tous frais compris – livraison et rangement - à partir de cinq stères.”; “D’une part, l’autrice du message a désactivé toute possibilité de commenter son offre, sur Facebook, ce qu’ont remarqué des utilisateurs de la plateforme. D’autre part, son profil est vide et ne laisse aucune possibilité de la localiser. Enfin, elle exige d’être contactée en message privé, uniquement.”] To check whether the offer was commercially plausible, the review says it sought information from several Belgian wood-sector specialists. Valéry Bemelmans, president of the Belgian Federation of Forest Experts, compared it with firewood he had received in June: loose, split, not dry, and cut to 33-centimetre lengths. He said that even this had cost €60.38 excluding VAT and was already a very good price; he also stressed the substantial work involved in palletizing and delivering firewood. [S1: “Renseignements pris auprès de plusieurs spécialistes du secteur du bois en Belgique, la dpa peut assurer que le message publié sur Facebook ne tient absolument pas la route.”; “On m’en a livré en vrac, fendus, non secs en 33cm en juin à 60,38 € HTVA, ce qui était déjà un très bon prix”] The review also quotes Eric Strepenne, a firewood seller operating in the Ardennes, who gave a much higher comparison for cut and dried wood: about €90 per stere including VAT, before delivery charges beyond a certain distance. It reports that standing wood sold at Attert on 24 September 2022 fetched around €50–€55 per stere. These comparisons support the review’s assessment of the €40 delivered-and-stacked offer; they are not a direct examination of a completed transaction with the Facebook seller. [S1: “On le vend désormais à 90 euros environ la stère, TVA comprise, en bois coupé et séché, sans les frais de livraison, au-delà d’un certain périmètre.”; “Il y a eu une vente de bois de chauffage sur pied à Attert (ndlr : Luxembourg belge) le week-end dernier (ndlr : 24 septembre 2022). Les prix tournent autour de 50 à 55 euros la stère sur pied”]