Bitcoin ads with fake celebrity endorsements doing a lot of damage in NL
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Fraudulent bitcoin investment advertisements using fake quotes from Dutch celebrities are becoming an increasingly prevalent problem in the Netherlands, the Fraud Help Desk told broadcaster NOS. People who fall for these scams are promised large profits on their "investment", but never see a cent.
In 2018 and so far this year, the Fraud Help Desk received 1.7 million euros in damage reports, involving five fraudulent website. The Help Desk expects that this is just a small part of the actual damage, because not everyone reports being scammed.
People complain that they invested money after clicking on an ad, but never saw their money again. The damage can be considerable. "If you realize fairly quickly, the damage is limited, but sometimes people are tempted to invest thousands of euros", Andre Vermeulen of the Fraud Help Desk said to NOS.
"We receive reports about this every day", Vermeulen said. "Celebrities are disappointed too, because their name is used for this."
The ads often appear on Facebook and Instagram, according to NOS. With clickbait headlines - 'The most recent investment of Alexander Klopping is terrifying big banks', for example - the fraudulent websites tempt people into clicking on the link and investing their money. Other Dutch celebrities featured in such ads include John de ol, Waylon and Humberto Tan.
The police could not tell NOS how often this type of fraud occurs, because it is not registered separately.
