Irish Presidential Hopeful Gavin Duffy’s Reputation Used in Bitcoin Scam

An Irish presidential candidate has found his name and image being used in a fake online advert for a Bitcoin scam that claimed to make a near €2,000 profit in seven days.

Too Good to Be True

Gavin Duffy, who is also a dragon on Ireland’s version of Dragons’ Den, had his photo and image used without his permission.

According to an article by The Irish Sun, a fake article claimed that an Irish crypto firm had “landed the biggest investment ever made in Dragon’s Den history.” However, the company doesn’t exist. The story stated that two university students from Dublin appeared on the show to pitch an “automated Bitcoin trading platform called Bitcoin Revolution.”

In the article, Duffy is said to have offered €30 million into the project, which, subsequently led to a bidding war with the other dragons. All of this, however, never took place. In order to make the ad appear legitimate, the scammers made great efforts to make it look like RTE, the country’s national broadcaster website. The ad also linked to RTE 2, a Facebook page, which doesn’t have any affiliation with RTE.

In a bid to lure investors in, the ad suggests an investment of €220. It claims that in seven days this can be turned into a profit of €1,930.

A spokesperson for Duffy said:

We are aware of this scam and we have urged the public to ignore it and report it to the relevant authorities.

Using Celebrities Reputations

This, of course, is not the first time that a member of Dragons’ Den has been used in a Bitcoin scam.

In June, it was reported that Peter Jones and Deborah Meaden, dragons from the British Dragons’ Den, have had their reputations used. The advert involving Jones claimed that two entrepreneurs managed to get him to buy 25 percent of the company for £2 million. The one with Meaden falsely claimed that she invested £250 live on air before making £100 in eight minutes.

Unsurprisingly, both refuted these claims.

Money saving expert Martin Lewis has also been targeted. As a result, he is suing Facebook after claiming the platform published 50 fake adverts with his image involving crypto and other get-rich-quick-schemes. Considered a trusted figure he argues that these adverts are “life-destructive.”

Unfortunately, while efforts are being taken to prevent these adverts, scammers will continue. However, people can stop becoming a victim by being more vigilant. Only then can they beat the scammers.

Have you been a victim of these scams? Let us know in the comments below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.