Fake accounts popping up online to sell Facebook’s cryptocurrency Libra

It has only been a month since the founder of the social media giant, Facebook announced the platform’s own cryptocurrency and there are already fake Facebook accounts popping up online that are trying to sell digital currency to people, as reported by Cnet.

Facebook’s cryptocurrency that is going to be headed by a single body called the Libra Association, will allow people to purchase products, make money transfers and donations. However, the company plans to launch its digital currency next year in 2020. According to recent reports, there are over dozens of pages across Facebook and Instagram posing as official pages and are trying to sell Libra to people. Some of the pages are even using the official marketing images and designs and are offering crypto at a discounted rate.

One of the fake videos shared on one of the fake pages had shared Zuckerberg’s voiceover, claiming that they had distributed around 20 million Libra coins to early investors. A cryptocurrency reporter named Matthew de Silva who works for Quartz has shared an image of a page on his Twitter profile that looks quite convincing.

The @Libra_ fakes are pretty damn convincing. pic.twitter.com/F5luUQ4EIG

— Matthew de Silva (@matthewde_silva) July 22, 2019

Facebook, when informed about these fake Facebook and Instagram pages took action and removed a few of them but there are still some left.

Facebook’s spokesperson said, “Facebook removes ads and pages that violate our policies when we become aware of them, and we are constantly working to improve detection of scams on our platforms”.

See also: Everything you need to know about Facebook’s cryptocurrency “Libra”

It seems that Facebook has taken a rapid action against these fake pages as the system they placed against fraud detection is targeting scammers well. This also indicates the length to which the platform is going to rebuild trust among the users and fight the scammers who surround its new financial system.

While the scammers are trying to con people by hiding behind Libra, the digital currency is facing strict scrutiny in the US from policymakers and congress and the US President Donald Trump claiming that digital currency will become a facilitator for unlawful activities if not regulated properly. Apart from the strong criticism, the Libra project is also facing several court hearings, starting from the Senate Banking Committee.