Fake news about the death of Assoc. Prof. Atanas Mangarov is circulating the web. False publications have appeared on the Internet claiming that the doctor was shot in front of his home in Sofia. A fake video made with artificial intelligence has been circulating on Facebook with the host of NOVA News, Ani Salic. She “reads news”, in which she announces the death of the associate professor. The fraudsters used the so-called deep fake technology, which alters a person's voice with the help of artificial intelligence. A fake article was also made on behalf of nova.bg, in which a medicine for blood vessels is also promoted.
“This is not the first time something like this has happened. I have been reporting - both to the SDVR and the GDBOP for the last two years. Stefan Lesikov is a person who was very angry about all this. He did research and found that these fake advertisements are made by companies owned by a lady who was expelled from Russia and has been living in our country for a long time. It turns out that their profit for 2021-2022 is quite serious - between 3 and 5 million leva per year. This is money made by people who paid 400-700-800 leva for something, just because I advertised it. This was explained in the studio of “Hello, Bulgaria” on Nova TV by infectious disease expert Assoc. Prof. Atanas Mangarov.
According to him, there was also a clip in which he was shot in his car, “like the mafia did with prosecutors and judges in Italy”. “I know who these people are, I have filed a complaint against them. I have filed a complaint against Ms. Samarskaya. Our authorities have tried to extradite her, but to no avail”, he stressed. He added that after the latest fake video, friends called him to ask if he was alive.
Assoc. Prof. Mangarov also commented on the vaccination against meningococcal infection that has begun and explained how the disease progresses. “Meningococcal meningitis is something that has been around for a long time. This year there have been 7 cases, last year there were 6, in 2023 - 5. In 2016-2017, there were 13-14 cases. This is a rare disease, but it is very dramatic. It affects well-groomed and well-fed children who can die within 24 hours”, he explained. And he emphasized that his granddaughters were vaccinated with both vaccines against the different types of meningococci.