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According to The Straits Times, MAS chairman Tharman Shanmugaratnam has extended the list of Singaporean bigwigs who unknowingly got involved in a clever Bitcoin scam that has been making rounds around the globe.
Bogus statements by high-profile Singaporeans
The outlet reports that fraudsters created a website that features the photos of Shanmugaratnam along with several made-up quotes that are attributed to him. The words of Singapore's central bank chairman are supposed to instill confidence in the would-be investors of a cryptocurrency trading scheme.
"The information on the website is highly deceptive and misleading. The statements attributed to Senior Minister Tharman are completely false," MAS said.
Back in September, there were bogus articles with Singaporean billionaire Lim Oon Kuin who appeared to be shilling the sham. The overtures to Bitcoin Revolution turned out to be completely fake, according to the businessman's spokesperson.
An epidemic of crypto scam ads
It's debatable whether the victims of such scams are too greedy or too gullible, but there is always collateral damage in the form of famous personalities who get caught in the crossfire. Fake crypto news is still rampant on social media, taking a huge toll on the reputation of celebrities.
Dutch media mogul John de Mol went as far as taking Facebook to court for its failure to crack down on scammy ads and ended up winning against the social media behemoth.
Jeremy Clarkson and Elon Musk are also among unfortunate promoters of crypto scams.