From The Verge: An investigation by The Washington Post has uncovered a dozen accounts, pages, and groups across Facebook and Instagram which misleadingly claim to be official hubs for Libra, Facebook’s proposed digital currency. In some cases these pages, which were only removed after WaPo reported them to Facebook, offered to sell Libra at a discount through third-party websites.
Given the proliferation of cryptocurrency scams seen in recent years, it’s not surprising that scammers have descended on Libra given its widespread attention. However, it’s far more surprising that Facebook doesn’t seem to have been prepared for the influx of tricksters on its own service, especially as it struggles to assure regulators that it’s equipped to handle a global currency.
Or, as Cornell University economics professor Eswar Prasad put it in a comment to The Washington Post, “There is a deep irony here in Facebook being used as the platform that could undermine trust in the currency Facebook is trying to build trust in.”
Many of the fake pages identified by The Washington Post use Facebook’s logo, Libra’s official marketing imagery, or photos of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. One page linked out to a site called BuyLibraCoins.com, which is slickly designed and includes links to buy what it claims are Libra tokens. Other pages seemed to have been made to reserve key Libra brand names for later use.
View: Article @ Source Site
