After having his name involved in a Bitcoin impersonation scam, Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said that he never has and never will invest in the cryptocurrency. He went even further by referring to BTC as a Ponzi scheme, which he avoids like “the plague.”
The CEO of the low-budget European airline is the latest popular individual to have his name exploited in Bitcoin impersonating scam after the likes of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex Harry and Meghan, and motoring broadcaster Jeremy Clarkson.
In O’Leary’s case, the perpetrators ran a fraudulent advertisement linking to a fake interview between himself and Ryan Tubridy regarding Bitcoin. He reportedly claimed in the fake ad that “I’m glad I tried (Bitcoin) because it was some of the biggest and easiest money I have ever made. I’m talking tens of thousands of euro a day on autopilot.”
Further, the commercial refers people to an auto-trading platform called ‘Bitcoin Lifestyle.’ Interestingly, the perpetrators claimed that the National Ireland Bank tried but failed to stop O’Leary from spreading this “once-in-a-lifetime” secret investment opportunity.
There’re two main issues with that ad – firstly, O’Leary had nothing to do with such a platform and secondly, and perhaps even more obviously – there is no such bank.
In the recent interview with The Times, O’Leary lashed out against the growing threat of similar apparent scams. He noted that the perpetrators should be held accountable for their actions, not only for using and potentially harming the names of famous individuals but also for deceiving unsuspecting victims into investing and losing their money.
Outside of his involvement in the BTC scam, however, O’Leary seemed negative regarding the primary cryptocurrency as well:
“I have never ever invested a cent in Bitcoin, which I believe is equivalent to a pyramid scheme.” – he asserted.
Although naming BTC as a Ponzi scheme is bad enough on its own, O’Leary further advised: “anyone with common sense to ignore this false story and avoid Bitcoin like the plague.”
Featured image courtesy of EuropeanCEO