A fake article proclaiming to help make "thousands of new millionaires" is using the face of former Prime Minister Sir John Key to lure in users.
Posted on a fake New Zealand Herald website, the article says Sir John has teamed up with "Richard Branson, Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, among other billionaire business moguls" to invest in bitcoin.
The article says Sir John told Bloomberg he invested $1000 to make $300 million seven years later. Searching for the quote on the Bloomberg website produces zero results.
"Bitcoin has jumped in price from 10 cents to $4000 per coin. I was lucky enough to discover and invest early on," the article reads.
"I purchased a mere $1000 and followed the bitcoin loophole system, and now seven years later my $1000 investment is worth $300 million. It's funny to think how that $1000 has grown to become my biggest asset."
The quote in the headline attributed to Sir John is actually from Sir Richard Branson.
The scam appears to be promoting what it calls the "bitcoin loophole" - a programme that supposedly allows users to make money on bitcoin with little effort or technical knowhow.
The website has mimicked the NZ Herald website but has multiple inaccuracies, including broken links, a current date of Monday, August 28, 2017 and a fake comment section.
The website is appearing via a promoted post on Twitter from by an account called "Ralf Setzer".
The account does not appear to have any connection to New Zealand and appears to mostly tweet in German.
Sir John's current fortune is estimated at $65 million due to his earlier work as a finance trader, not quite the $300 million claimed in the article.
Newshub.
