The Singapore Police Force (SPF) has recently warned the public to be vigilant about Facebook‘s fake news articles that lure people to invest in an automated Bitcoin trading program
Mr. Heng stated in a Facebook post” So far this month, there have been at least three Facebook sponsored posts using my name and image to promote dubious investment schemes or bitcoin trading programs in fake news articles. These are definitely untrue, and most certainly not endorsed by me!”
These fake articles are often paid online ads that encourage victims to click inside links that lead to a different website, offering high-return investments in cryptocurrency or other financial products. Those who provide the website with their contact information will receive a call promoting the investment trading program. Anyone who chooses to invest in the program will be asked to transfer money to an overseas bank account or use their credit card to make payments.
The Singapore Police Force further added that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are neither issued by any government nor backed by any assets. And also urged the public to check the authenticity of those articles before making any transfer of money or giving any personal information.
“As in most jurisdictions, the ‘Monetary Authority of Singapore’ does not regulate cryptocurrencies. As such, there is no regulatory safeguards for investment in them, and investors in cryptocurrencies run the risk of losing all their capital’, said the SPF in the Facebook post.
This is not the first time in which the website has fraudulently used names and photographs of government officials and public figures to promote scam cryptocurrency investments.
As the number of cyber threats identified in Singapore dropped last year compared to 2017, cyber-crime cases such as online cheating scams kept increasing, accounting for nearly one-fifth of all the country’s crimes committed.
