CBA refutes ‘fake news’ cryptocurrency story

On Wednesday, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) said that the “fake news article” which has been circulated on social media, is “totally false and untrue”.

“The ‘article’ which purports to be a story on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) news website, is a scam designed to entice unsuspecting people to go to the scammer’s website and provide their personal details and money,” the statement read.

“CBA has reported the scam to the relevant authorities and asked social media publishers to take down the false article.

“The bank has warned Australians through its own channels not to respond to or click through to the website if they receive the alleged fake article via social media or any other channel such as a text message or an email.”

CBA’s comments come after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) launched proceedings against Facebook owner Meta in the Federal Court over the publication of cryptocurrency scam advertisements featuring public figures on Facebook.

The ACCC claimed that the Facebook ads promoted investment in crypto or money-making schemes that were actually scams and gave the impression of being associated with public figures who had not provided approval or endorsement, including David Koch and Dick Smith.

When clicking on the scam ads, the ACCC said that users would be directed to a fake news story featuring quotes attributed to the public figure depicted in the Facebook ad.

Individuals were then invited to sign up to the fake scheme, and those that did experienced “high pressure tactics” from scammers to convince them to deposit money, the ACCC found.

The consumer watchdog said it was aware of one person who had lost over $650,000 due to a scam being falsely advertised as an investment opportunity on Facebook.

Neil Griffiths

Neil is the Deputy Editor of the wealth titles, including ifa and InvestorDaily.

Neil is also the host of the ifa show podcast.