Facebook's crypto-currency has not been released yet, but it is already the target of crooks

Balance, the The cryptocurrency that Facebook plans to launch in 2020 is already a niche for Internet fraudsters. In recent days, the number of fake accounts, pages and groups presented as official buying and selling platforms has multiplied.

The investigation of The Washington Post further complicates the social network that last week had to deal with the Donald Trump's review, who published that he did not like this digital currency initiative.

L & # 39; agency AFP confirmed that they were created fake sites offering to buy or sell books using a credit card. In buylibracoins.com, for example, the advance purchase of cryptocurrency is announced.

Hundreds of Internet users follow some fake accounts and Facebook and Instagram pages. There are also such fraudulent profiles on Twitter, YouTube and other platforms.

After the publication of Publish, Facebook and Instagram reported that they had deleted some of the accounts, which showed the logo of the social network and photos of Mark Zuckerberg to appear official.

Contacted by AFP, the company confirmed the information: "Facebook has removed advertisements and pages that break its rules when it has learned about the existence of the latter and we are working to improve the detect fraud on our platforms. "

For Facebook, the appearance of these frauds with their cryptocurrency even before its launch is a blow because it comes at a time when the social network is facing a deluge of criticism from politicians and regulators of the world. the world, as some people consider it to be a threat to the global financial system.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Facebook would be subject to "stringent security standards" before being able to participate in the payment system.

In turn, the German government has declared that the issue of a currency can not be entrusted to a private company. Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, for his part, said Libra deserved to be "disgusted".

The US Senate, against the cryptocurrency of Facebook

In the United States, Congress members are also seriously considering the authorization given to Mark Zuckerberg's company to implement cryptocurrency. Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown has clearly expressed his doubts. "Facebook is dangerous. He showed scandal after scandal that he does not deserve our trust. We would be crazy if we gave him the opportunity to experiment with the citizens' bank accounts, "he warned.

In the same vein, Republican Senator John Kennedy expressed further sarcasm, recalling the company 's failings to ensure the confidentiality of its users' information and the delay in responding to it. Russia's interference in the 2016 elections: "Facebook wants to control the money supply – what can go wrong?"