The Department of Finance (DOF) has alerted the public about false information fraudulently using the name of Secretary Carlos Dominguez III to promote a fake “cryptocurrency auto-trading platform called Bitcoin Revolution.”

According to the DOF, its staff has observed similar investment ploys using the names of prominent Finance and Treasury officials in other countries in an attempt to dupe the public into falling for the scam.

“We warn those behind these unscrupulous and unauthorized investment schemes that the government is monitoring the public space for such schemes, and will take appropriate legal and regulatory action,” the DOF said in a statement on Sunday.

The DOF urged the public to report this and other similarly suspicious investment schemes to the Enforcement and Investor Protection Department of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), with telephone number (02) 8818-5704.

Last May 19, the DOF had warned the public about fake news and malicious misinformation alleging that the Philippines is creating “a platform for the citizens of the Philippines to start generating income with cryptocurrency.”

Peddlers of such fake news have alleged in an article that the government has created a platform called “Bitcoin Lifestyle” and that President Duterte “is urging all citizens of Philippines to learn about Bitcoin Lifestyle quickly to get involved.”

Finance assistant secretary Antonio Joselito Lambino II has made it clear that “there is no such effort by the government.”

The fake news also suggested that “The Government of Philippines asserts that tax revenues (from Bitcoin Lifestyle) will be huge and will benefit all citizens, and most of it will go to the financing of Philippines’s retirement and to counteract the crisis of learning support services.”

Lambino said this is false and urged the public “to exercise caution in their investments, and to keep their expectations of returns realistic.”/Stacy Ang