Andreas Antonopoulos and other experts have denied having any connection with the advertisement of a Blockchain conference that is stated to take place in Lagos, Nigeria on 14 and 15 August 2017.
Selling fake tickets to a fake conference
The said advertisement claims to feature industry that includes Andreas Antonopoulos, Jason Cassidy and Roland Alexander.
On his twitter handle, Antonopoulos denies being scheduled to speak at the event and says that lying to sell tickets is one way to guarantee that he is not going to the event.
President of Crypto Consultant, Jason Cassidy tells Cointelegraph that he was made aware of being advertised as a speaker to this event just recently. While Cassidy expresses his excitement at seeing Blockchain technology blossom in key areas of Africa such as Lagos, he regrets that in this case, the conference itself appears to be a poorly constructed attempt at misdirection.
Cassidy explains:
“I have had no such interaction with the conference hosts and if you look at the speaker line-up, Andreas Antonopoulos is also listed and has come out and set the record straight as to his involvement.”
However, Cassidy notes that Nigeria is going to be a big player in the growth story for Blockchain in Africa, saying that he would love to go speak in Lagos on what is happening. However, obvious attempts to mislead the public like this set the entire industry back. “Hopefully as we move forward these situations become the exception to the rule,” he notes.
Stolen identity
Roland Alexander, Operations Manager(Africa & Middle East) at Crypto Consultant, who is listed as one of the speakers, also denies having any affiliation to the organizers of this event. Alexander expresses surprise at the appearance of his profile as a speaker in an event that he knows nothing about.
Alexander tells Cointelegraph:
“I was surprised to see my picture on the proposed event. I'm sure the perpetrators of this scam event munched the pictures of myself and my partner from our company's website.
It's so sad to see a thing of this sort.”
Alexander continues by noting that the awareness of the Blockchain technology is growing so fast in Nigeria and actions like this is not a good thing for this emerging market. “Many cryptocurrency enthusiasts in Nigeria have condemned this action and are working to get to the root of this,” he says.
Due diligence is a necessity
Alexander condemns this development and advises the public to always carry out due diligence before they send money to any individual or groups.
Independent crypto group, Cryptography Development initiatives in Nigeria (CDIN) have also released a disclaimer, condemning the actions of the organizers of the proposed event and dissociating itself completely from the said group.
In a statement, Adeolu Fadele, President of CDIN, says:
“This is a disclaimer to inform the friends and partners of CDIN worldwide that the publicity in question and the group behind it are in no way associated or connected with the Blockchain Nigeria initiative of CDIN nor our Blockchain Nigeria 2017 conference which we are planning. Be sure to look out for our logo or check our website for our programs in order to avoid any misleading information. We promise you to expect nothing less than the best practice and the right level of professional conduct from us at CDIN.”
Part of the program of the said conference involves the process of registration, where unsuspecting individuals will have to send Bitcoins to designated wallets.
Surrounding evidence appear to prove this as a developing trend in scamming unsuspecting and ignorant newbies within the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
Alexander concludes by calling on one and all to rise up and condemn such development in other to nip the emerging trend in the bud.
He concludes:
“It is really sad that this is a new way to scam people and it is already giving Nigeria a bad image in the crypto space. This is why we should all rise to condemn this.”