Following the false news of its association with Litecoin, Walmart Inc. he says he is studying how the fraudulent press release was issued. The Litecoin Foundation and Charlie Lee are also researching the issue. In addition, Globenewswire says it will also work with authorities “to request and facilitate a full investigation, including any criminal activity related to this matter.”
Walmart responds to fake news about its association with Litecoin
The retail giant issued a press release in response to false news of its association with Litecoin on Monday. “Walmart was the subject of a false press release issued on Monday 13 September falsely claiming that Walmart was announcing a partnership with Litecoin (LTC),” the company wrote, adding:
Walmart was unaware of the press release issued by Globenewswire and is incorrect. Walmart has no relationship with Litecoin.
Walmart spokesman Randy Hargrove told CNBC that the retailer has been in contact with the news company to investigate how the fake press release was issued.
Globenewswire withdrew the fake press release Monday afternoon and issued a “warning to ignore” its entire service. The company also said it has implemented enhanced authentication steps to prevent a similar incident from occurring in the future.
The press release company stated:
We will work with the appropriate authorities to request and facilitate a full investigation, including any criminal activity related to this matter.
Many major media outlets published the fake story, including Reuters and CNBC. This led to an instant increase in the price of litecoin (LTC). However, the gains were quickly eliminated when Walmart denied the news.
Meanwhile, the Litecoin Foundation, a non-profit organization that promotes cryptocurrency, issued a statement to that effect. The foundation is run by litecoin creator Charlie Lee, who is its managing director.
“We have no information on where this idea originated or the press release,” the foundation wrote, confirming that “it has not entered into any partnership with Walmart.” In addition, he noted that the quotes in the press release did not come from Lee.
Lee told Reuters in an email that the deception was being investigated, but little progress had been made. The creator of Litecoin added that he currently only owned five LTCs and that he had little incentive to post the fake ad himself.
He also commented on Litecoin’s verified Twitter manager (@litecoin) who shared the fake ad. The tweet was deleted a few hours after Walmart denied the news. Lee admitted:
It was our mistake to retweet with @litecoin. We’ll make sure we have tighter controls on our social media accounts so that something like this doesn’t happen again.
Who do you think is behind this fake news about the Walmart-Litecoin collaboration? Let us know in the comments section below.
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