The Finance Ministry has reported fraudulent websites sporting hoax articles featuring Finance Minister Edward Scicluna, and has appealed to the public at large to ignore them completely.

In the articles - to which a number of Maltese celebrities, businesspeople and politicians have fallen victim - Scicluna is seen extolling the virtues of bitcoin and advising people about how to become millionaires.

And while such advice is not too distant from reality - the finance minister is, after all, a promoter of Malta bitcoin and cryptocurrency industry and, let’s face it, he also deals with his fair share of millionaires - the finance ministry has clarified that Scicluna has no truck with such bogus advertisements.

In a statement, the ministry said, "While the Ministry for Finance took all the necessary measures, including the reporting of such web contents to the respective authorities, the Ministry for Finance is appealing to the general public to ignore such websites."

It advised the public in general to ignore such fraudulent web-links that are sprouting up across social media platforms.

"These hyperlinks contain hoax articles about the Minister for Finance Professor Edward Scicluna," the ministry said   In addition, there are also other hyperlinks in which the general public is being encouraged to invest money in fraudulent scams."

The ministry also recommends that prior to subscribing to any financial investment, people must first verify whether the company in question is licensed to provide such investment services by the respective Regulator.