DubaiCoin is a scam, Dubai govt warns
DubaiCoin, the digital currency intended to pay for a range of goods and services both in-store and online in the UAE, has been unveiled to be a scam, Dubai’s government said earlier last week.
“DubaiCoin cryptocurrency was never approved by any official authority,” the government said on its Twitter account. “The website promoting the coin is an elaborate phishing campaign that is designed to steal personal information from its visitors.”
DubaiCoin had initially surfaced back in 2017 for trials and testing, but was later shelved, but the ploy portrayed a relaunch of the cryptocurrency while claiming that it had official backing from the government.
News of DubaiCoin’s announcement was even listed on PR Newswire; it is worth mentioning that the press release claimed that it would become Dubai’s official digital currency, raising suspicions between investors and crypto experts in the GCC.
Perpetrators of the phishing scam remain unknown.
In parallel, according to Arabian Chain Technology, a UAE-based blockchain start-up that set up Dubai Coin in 2017, said the relaunch was fake and that its name and logo had been used fraudulently in a news release and website.
“We haven’t made such an announcement, please be cautious,” the company said on Twitter.
The landing page, which featured ArabianChain’s logo, was purportedly being run by a company calling itself Dubpay International but contained no contact details and is no longer operational.
According prices on crypto.com, DubaiCoin’s value jumped up 14-fold going from $0.09 per coin Tuesday May 25, to $1.13 as of two days later.