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Don’t fall for these fake cryptocurrency ads all over Facebook
New cryptocurrencies are constantly popping up. While Bitcoin is the most well-known crypto, others like Ethereum and Shiba Inu have steadily grown in popularity.
Lucky Block is one of the newest and ties itself to the lottery industry. However, there aren’t too many cryptocurrencies that hedge their bets on social media. Well, that doesn’t seem to be the case if you believe some advertising on Facebook.
Keep reading to find out how scammers are using social media to spread ads for fraudulent cryptocurrencies.
Here’s the backstory
Have you heard about the new Meta cryptocurrency backed by Facebook founder and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg? If you haven’t, that is a good thing. Over the last few weeks, several advertising banners on Facebook have promoted the crypto, complete with Zuckerberg’s photo.
The ads claim the platform gives users a chance to invest in Meta cryptocurrency. And to find out more, you can read all about it on a Facebook page called Metaverse. If you didn’t know, Facebook’s parent company rebranded to Meta, with Zuckerberg announcing his intentions to build a digital world called the Metaverse.
But the crypto advertising isn’t just using Zuckerberg, as The Markup discovered. Similar ads have also popped up across social media, replacing the Facebook CEO’s face with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
If it hasn’t been made clear, these crypto ads are bogus, and there are no plans to launch a Meta-inspired cryptocurrency. With or without Musk and Bezos.
“Meta doesn’t offer any such cryptocurrency. The ads, until recently available for viewing in Facebook’s public ad library, were frauds that slipped through Facebook’s content moderation process, despite the use of Zuckerberg’s image and the company’s new logo,” The Markup explains in a blog post.
What you can do about it
Facebook and Meta have strict rules and regulations for advertising cryptocurrencies, so it is unclear how these ads made it through the review process. More Facebook incompetence, we’d imagine.
Since the cryptocurrencies are fake, you will lose your money if you go through with a purchase. There is also the risk of having your crypto wallet drained through malware or phishing attacks.
The ads discovered by The Markup have since been pulled from Facebook, but that doesn’t mean that others won’t make an appearance soon. So here are some tips on cryptocurrencies:
- Looking around for a wallet to use, always approach it with caution. Do some research into the company and service and read reviews on it. If there are any signs of foul play, stay away.
- Be cautious with ads on Facebook, especially when it’s crypto. It’s always better to be safe than sorry.
Tags: advertising, Amazon, Bitcoin, crypto wallet, cryptocurrency, cryptocurrency 101, digital world, Elon Musk, Ethereum, Facebook, fraudulent, Jeff Bezos, Kim, malware, Mark Zuckerberg, Meta, phishing, phishing attacks, play, reviews, social media, spread, The Markup, wallet
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