The Department of Finance (DOF) of the Philippines has yet again published a warning against cryptocurrency scams that are using the name of the country’s Finance Secretary, Carlos Dominguez. According to a statement published on the department’s website on Sunday, the DOF has specifically warned against a fake “cryptocurrency auto-Trading Platform called Bitcoin Revolution.” Although the warning posted yesterday doesn’t provide much details on the scam itself, just the name - Bitcoin Revolution, and the fact that it uses the name of the country’s Finance Secretary, the DOF does say that this is the first in a number of attempts to get people to fall victim to the scam.
DOF: crypto scams continue to use government officials
In particular, the staff of the DOF have observed similar investment ploys using the names of prominent Finance and Treasury officials in other countries, in an attempt to dupe the public into falling for the scam. “We warn those behind these unscrupulous and unauthorized investment schemes that the government is monitoring the public space for such schemes, and will take appropriate legal and regulatory action,” the DOF said in a statement. According to the statement, there have been numerous attempts by crypto scams to trick residents of the Philippines into investing in fake cryptocurrency investment platforms. In particular, the DOF highlighted that in May, the government department warned against fake news and “malicious misinformation”, which alleged that the government of the country was creating “a platform for the citizens of the Philippines to start generating income with cryptocurrency.” “Peddlers of such fake news have alleged in an article that the government has created a platform called Bitcoin Lifestyle’ and that President Duterte ‘is urging all citizens of Philippines to learn about Bitcoin Lifestyle quickly to get involved’,” the statement said. However, the Finance assistant secretary Antonio Joselito Lambino II, has hit back against these claims, making it clear that there is no such effort by the government, the DOF said in yesterday’s warning. The fake news also suggested that “The Government of Philippines asserts that tax revenues (from Bitcoin Lifestyle) will be huge and will benefit all citizens, and most of it will go to the financing of Philippines’s retirement and to counteract the crisis of learning support services.” Lambino said this is false and urged the public “to exercise caution in their investments, and to keep their expectations of returns realistic.”
