Singapore‘s financial watchdog, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has informed the public to avoid a website that uses fake comments from former Singapore’s Prime Minister, Goh Chok Tong to solicit for Bitcoin investment.
According to a press release today by the regulator, the website, Bitcoin Loophole, used comments supposedly made by the former prime minister to convince investors to make a deposit of USD 250 which would be traded on its platform. However, the comments are seen by the MAS as either fake or have been taken out of context.
“The site asks readers to make a minimum initial deposit of $250 into a purported trading platform, Bitcoin Loophole, which would automatically initiate trades on one’s behalf,” the MAS commented.
The site also requested users to give out sensitive information including their credit card details, and bank information, as stated in the press release
MAS subsequently warned the public to be extremely careful in their dealings with schemes that come up such antics.
The financial watchdog frowns at the consistent use of prominent citizen’s comments and pictures, to lure the public into making a cryptocurrency investment decision.
“In the past year, there have been websites fraudulently using the names and photographs of Ministers and other prominent public personalities to solicit Bitcoin investments,” the MAS concluded.
It can be recalled that the MAS has released several warnings to investors to avoid patronizing fraudulent websites that use deceitful contents from notable individuals, which could make them want to invest.
In September 2018, the MAS issued a publication that a fraudulent website was using contents from the Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, as a decoy to attract investment from unsuspecting individuals.
In a similar development in January, another fake website asked readers to invest with them, stating that the Singapore government has adopted cryptocurrency as its official currency.
Despite the MAS warnings, Singapore is one of the countries with crypto and blockchain-friendly regulations in the world.
Coinfomania had reported early this month that the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) plans to stop goods and services tax (GST) on cryptocurrencies. If actualize, it could help boost the usage of cryptos for transactional proposes in Singapore.
