Rachel’s ‘I’m bad at maths’ confession was all just a spoof to warn of fraud
WE knew something just didn’t add up. Countdown’s Rachel Riley confused fans with a video on social media where she appeared to claim to be ‘bad at maths’ – despite having a prestigious maths degree.
But the 32-year-old numbers whizz revealed the video was a spoof yesterday as she teamed up with British bank HSBC UK to show how clever fraudsters can be.
Ms Riley posted a video on Twitter which shocked fans as she seemed to claim to have had the answers to complicated maths questions fed to her through an earpiece on the show. Yesterday, a second video revealed ‘fraudsters’ had mapped her face to create the video that looked and sounded like Ms Riley – but was not actually her.
Ms Riley tweeted: ‘So how many of you believed it then?! Of course I’m good at maths (and proud of it!).’
This was the day after she had tweeted: ‘Some personal news. I haven’t been totally honest. I’m sorry but it’s time I shared something with you...’ alongside a video where she claimed to ‘feel like a fraud’ for being fed maths answers in her role as the resident numbers queen of Countdown.
Responding to comments, Ms Riley said: ‘Actually that wasn’t me acting – that was regular me, digitally altered with an impressionist thrown in – scary stuff! The video hasn’t changed anything in the world. Use your common sense and think about what you’re seeing/reading.
‘Trust or don’t trust things on their merit. Digital fraudsters can be very clever, and after working with HSBC Fake: ‘Rachel Riley’ in the video, top, and, above, yesterday’s Irish Daily Mail querying the odd clip UK, I think their awareness raising is too.’
She adds: ‘Fraudulent techniques are becoming even more advanced, making it harder for consumers to know if someone really is who they say they are online.
‘We want to make sure our campaign is the only thing that catches you out this season.’
Alexander Wilson-Thame who worked on the sound for the video tweeted: ‘Had great fun manipulating @RachelRileyRR’s dialogue to create this piece for @HSBC... Can you tell it is not real?!’