If, by any chance, you come across an ad on crypto currency investment involving me and former President and now representative of the Second District of Pampanga Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, I want you to know that it is FAKE.

I made mention on my show, Fast Talk with Boy Abunda (GMA 7) a couple of days back, that former Pres. Arroyo reached out to me regarding a misleading, fake ad circulating on the Internet inviting people to invest in a crypto currency called BIT IQ. She requested me to warn the public about this misinformation.

The claim was that I interviewed the former president who, according to the FALSE ADVERTISEMENT, earned a hefty sum and this alarmed the banks that refused to inform the public as this would be bad business for them. This is all FAKE NEWS, I did not interview former president Arroyo regarding crypto currency which is being claimed by this fake ad.

People behind the crypto currency investment also made it appear that it came out as part of the news on GMA 7 and CNN Philippines. They even used logos of major broadsheets in the country to persuade Filipinos to invest their hard-earned money in this scam. Testimonials about getting rich in just a short span of time that were included in the said ad could make any reader fall into the trap.

Some friends have been calling me to verify the veracity of this fake ad. Again, this is fake.

I thought that after I made it clear on national TV that we are not in any way involved in the crypto currency investment ad, it will put a stop to any attempt of releasing misleading information on the Internet regarding the matter. But another friend from my Ateneo days sent me a text message informing me that he saw the same ad which, he said, still appears in a major broadsheet as a sponsored advertisement.

With so much free information online, it’s easy to get distracted by all the materials that are created to deceive, lie or support either an individual or social group’s nefarious agenda. These people are polluting the web with misinformation. This is the reason why, I am asking people to verify, cross-check, and compare content they see online to avoid being trapped into believing invented stories and get into misfortune, which is the last thing we need these days.