Have you come across Facebook pages that are offering you to trade Libra – Facebook’s cryptocurrency – for Bitcoin? If you have, don’t click on the page. According to Facebook, Libra is still not available to the public. That Facebook page, like hundreds of others, is a scam perpetrated by cyber-criminals looking to cash in on the buzz surrounding the Facebook cryptocurrency Libra.
If you do click on the link, you will land on a professionally-designed website. You will find complete contact information – email addresses of people who can assist you in acquiring Libra and how to go about exchanging it for other cryptocurrencies.
Facebook issued a statement to the public not to fall victim to these cyber-criminals and that these Facebook pages and groups are all scammers.
For its part, Libra has assured the public that the company is aware of these online hoaxes are that they are collaborating efforts with Facebook to have these pages and groups removed.
Some of the actions taken by Facebook include removing ads and pages that violate the policies signed on with Libra. However, a significant number of the fake pages are still operating which implies Facebook received payment from the scammers for their advertising services.
This is not the first time cyber-criminals have tried to rake in money from Libra since Facebook made the announcement on the cryptocurrency last 17 June.
Web security experts from Digital Shadows have uncovered 100-plus web domains that were related to Libra and Calibra, the cryptocurrency’s digital wallet shortly after the announcement.
These scamming websites featured the Libra logo to make them look authentic and legitimate.
The popularity of these cryptocurrencies in combination with the little knowledge people have of them have made it easy for the scammers to find victims. Scamming activity was an area of concern that was raised by lawmakers when Libra head honcho David Marcus was summoned by U.S. Congress in July.
Given the proliferation of these Facebook scams on Libra, Internet security experts such as Carl Wearn of the Mimecast have offered helpful tips on how to avoid being scammed by these cyber-criminals.
According to Wearn, people who are interested in Libra and other cyber-currencies should familiarize themselves with the FCA’s guidelines regarding financial consultancy. FCA stands for the Financial Conduct Authority.
All interested investors should do is to visit the FCA’s website and visit the Financial Services Register. On this page, people can find answers to questions that may have been on their minds since coming across the Facebook pages and ads.
Wearn’s final tip is an old one but still relevant in this day and age of cryptocurrencies:
“If it’s too good to be true, it probably is.”