TV Reporter Warns of Facebook Ads That Claim They Made Millions From BTC

Published at: April 19, 2020

British TV presenter and former X-Factor star, Rylan Clark-Neal, alerted his followers as to “fake interview” claiming that Rylan had made “millions from Bitcoin.”

On April 18, the former Celebrity Big Brother star tweeted that a fraudulent interview impersonating U.K. publication, The Daily Mirror, was circulating on Facebook. Rylan warned his followers:

“There’s a fake interview going around on Facebook and social platforms claiming to be the daily mirror which isn’t saying how I’ve made millions from Bitcoin. Don’t fall for it.”

Scammers promote fake celebrity interviews on Facebook

The warning comes amid a steady stream of Bitcoin (BTC) scams advertising on Facebook using targeted ads to distribute fake interviews purporting localized entertainment celebrities have made small fortunes through Bitcoin investments.

In the comments section of Clark-Neal’s post, one Twitter user states that he has been receiving emails claiming that the 66-year-old English comedian, Jim Davidson, “bounced back from Covid by investing in cryptocurrency.”

On March 30, the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) warned of a crypto Ponzi scheme targeting Filipino, Australian, and European investors through fake celebrity endorsements on Facebook. 

The SEC’s warning came within days of French soccer star, Kylian Mbappé, filing a complaint against an alleged scam network for impersonating him in a fake interview, in which they claimed he made millions from crypto.

Whistleblower outs wholesale Ukrainian crypto scam

At the start of March, a former employee of a 200-employee Bitcoin trading scam operating in Kyiv, Ukraine blew the whistle on a purportedly $70 million operation.

The scam targets investors in Australia, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand, luring victims with fake news ads featuring local celebrities like Hugh Jackman, Gordan Ramsey, and Martin Lewis — who sued Facebook over being impersonated by Bitcoin scammers on the platform in 2018.

After a potential victim responds to an ad, they are contacted by call-center workers promising exorbitant returns on investments in crypto, foreign exchange, and commodities. Fake profit statements would be fabricated to entice further investment, with call workers encouraged to make at least 300 calls per day “squeeze the money” from victims down to their very “last cent.”

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