Two identical looking Sir Richard Bransons inside 102 seconds? The Virgin entrepreneur warned last year on his company website about online scams – scammers using his name and his company’s to try to trick people into ‘special recruitment’ or get-rich-quick schemes, whether wanting people to give away personal data or money.
Now he has voiced an online animated cartoon to make the point that he doesn’t direct message people he doesn’t know, ever, nor does any of his staff or anyone in his name; he doesn’t endorse any such schemes, and you shouldn’t give away your personal details to any of them. Nor click phishing emails – ‘don’t take the bait’. Only trust, Branson says, what’s posted on his and his company’s social media accounts.
Bitcoin scam stories have used his name in an effort to convince victims to part with cash. He wrote in a blog post: “I have written several times warning people about the growing problem of fake stories online linking me to get-rich-quick schemes, fake pages, misleading ads, false endorsements and fake binary trading schemes. While I have often commented on the potential benefits of genuine bitcoin developments, I absolutely do not endorse these fake bitcoin stories.”
See more at the Action Fraud website. If you have been a victim of fraud or cyber crime, report it to Action Fraud at actionfraud.police.uk.
