Maltese actor and TV star Davide Tucci blasted a fake article which claimed that he had gone bankrupt and had used an automated Bitcoin trading platform called Bitcoin Revolution to amass a fortune of €2.3 million.
In a video published on his Facebook page, Tucci said that it had come to his attention that his name and image was being used in connection with “a Bitcoin related scam in the form of fake Facebook advertisements, websites and fake articles.”
He said: “Please note I have nothing whatsoever to do with this, I have never engaged in such tradings, never did I authorise or approve of such material being published or advertised. This is clearly a scam and click-bait, please don’t buy into this.”
“The allegations of bankruptcy particularly are very serious - and I intend to take this seriously by reporting the case to The Malta Police Force’s Cybercrime unit. I have worked really hard throughout the years to get to where I am now and I won’t let my name and image to be used for any form of scam or dishonesty”,
The action that Tucci has taken is much like that taken by Elaine Degiorgio and Wayne Sammut, the two hosts of the TV show One Breakfast – the program which, the article claimed, Tucci appeared on. Both Degiorgio and Sammut said that they had submitted a joint report on the article to the Cyber Crime Unit of the police force.
The article, posted on a site called Major News, writes that Tucci convinced Degiorgio to input €250 into this trading platform live on television - €250 which, eight minutes later, miraculously turned into €398.42.
A quote endorsing the mystical trading platform is attributed to Sammut and Degiorgio, whilst both presenters are depicted in the article through what is presumed to be screenshots of them actually presenting an episode of One Breakfast.
The article then continues with various screenshots and instructions pointing readers in the direction of Bitcoin Revolution, and instructing them how to sign up.
The name Bitcoin Revolution is not a new one, and has reared its head on Maltese social media more than once over the past few weeks. In fact, earlier this week the government issued a statement saying that they had submitted a report with the police so that websites pedalling such stories could be investigated, whilst also saying that they were taking such claims very seriously as not only were they fraudulent, but they were also undermining the government’s work in the blockchain sector.
The MFSA incidentally have also said that there is no license or authorisation issued to anything called Bitcoin Revolution to operate in Malta.