Just when you thought you heard it all, now they are using images of Bermuda’s Governor, Rena Lalgie, in the latest fake scam on social media.
Government House alerted police on the post, published by a website called irranisto.com, which features the Governor’s picture under the headline ‘Bermuda in Panic’.
A Government spokeswoman said: “If you click on the link it takes you to a fake news article about a money making scheme.
“This website has been reported both to Facebook and the Bermuda Police Service.”
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Bermuda Police Service (BPS) said the online investment scam urges members of the public to invest in a cryptocurrency auto-trading programme called ‘Bitcoin Hack’.
To promote investment, the ads use the names and images of well-known individuals, identifying them as investors in the scheme, who allegedly benefitted from hefty returns.
Previous scams used images of Premier David Burt, former Premier Dr Ewart Brown and former Minister of Finance, Curtis Dickinson.
The BPS spokesman said whoever clicks on the ad are then asked to click on a link where they are invited to open an online account with a credit or card.
“The users ‘online account’ shows their initial $250 balance massively increase over the next couple of days – which the victim is told is through Bitcoin trading – until it reaches a stage where it shows a $25,0000 plus balance,” he added.
“The victim is invited to ‘cash-out’, although there is usually a much bigger fee to do so – usually around $5,000.
“By now the victim has lost a lot of money and also their credit or debit card are compromised and may be used at a later stage,” he said.
In closing he said: “Do not click on the link in the advertisement and avoid falling victim to this latest version of online fraud.”
