Prince Harry latest celeb to be used in fake news stories about Bitcoin investing
By Sam Meadows, Personal finance reporter 30 June 2018 • 8:00am
Prince Harry has been the subject of fake news stories claiming he has invested £100m in a Bitcoin trading platform; pictured with wife Meghan Markle Credit: Samir Hussein/WireImage
The Duke of Sussex has become the latest victim of fake news stories that falsely claim celebrities as investors in an attempt to trick people into investing in dubious cryptocurrency platforms.
Telegraph Money has previously highlighted the use of this tactic by Bitcoin Trader, a service that claims the average investor can make $13,000 (£9,700) every day. The platform is connected to Cryptopoint, a company flagged by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as unregulated.
The company has placed stories, which falsely claim celebrities have invested millions in the company, on legitimate news websites, including Yahoo.
Last week Telegraph Money reported one story, which had been faked to look like a BBC news article claiming the Duke of Sussex had invested £100m in Bitcoin Trader, to Yahoo. The internet company promptly removed it.
However, days later Yahoo's homepage was hosting a "sponsored story" designed to look like it had been published on the Guardian's website, with the headline "Simon Cowell Makes HUGE Announcement About his Latest Investment", again linked to Bitcoin Trader.
Oath, Yahoo's parent company, said it is constantly battling against "bad actors" on its network and that the problem is industry wide.
Bitcoin scam - dragons' Den
A spokesman said it takes a hard line against "deceptive or misleading" ads and expects advertisers to comply with its policies.
He added: "We regularly take action to block ads in violation of our policies, as well as bad actors who work to circumvent our human and automated controls. We encourage users to report ads that violate our ad policies, so that we can take them down as swiftly as possible."
Other high-profile figures have had their image used to promote dubious Bitcoin investments. TV presenter Martin Lewis sued Facebook after the social network was flooded with Bitcoin investment adverts using his image.
The social network has previously said it is in contact with his team and is assisting, while advising anyone to report adverts they believe may be fraudulent.
Suzanne Raftery, of fraud recovery specialists Requite Solutions, said: "We refer to sites like Facebook and Yahoo as enablers. Without these adverts people wouldn't be going to that website so these companies should be held accountable.
"It's not right that people lose their pension because they trusted something they saw on Facebook. Without Facebook they wouldn't have gone on the site."
Earlier this year the FCA issued a warning about Cryptopoint, which trades as Bitcoin Trader. The company did not respond to a request for comment.
Pip Thornton, a researcher in cybersecurity at Royal Holloway, University of London, said it was difficult for sites to keep up with dubious sponsored content.
She warned to always be wary of "sponsored" stories, particularly when hidden among genuine news on a website's homepage, and to check the site's web address corresponds with the news organisation supposedly reporting the story.
She said not to click on any links unless you can be certain it is genuine, and to avoid offers that seem "too good to be true".
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