The latest news revolving around Miss Universe and the Philippines is the Miss Universe coin controversy. The Miss Universe organization has announced that there is no affiliation between the association and the Miss Universe coin project launched during the Philippine Blockchain Week this month.
The organization has specified that there is no Miss Universe cryptocurrency offering associated with Miss Universe Philippines, calling it a fraud. Mitchelle Dee, Miss Universe Philippines, caught in the crossfire, was present at the coin launch.
The Philippine Blockchain Week announces an alleged scam
The PBW founder, Donald Lim, also considered the father of digital marketing in the Philippines, introduced the Miss Universe coin project during the event on September 7 and was seated beside Miss Dee. The second launch ran from September 19 to September 2.
Miss Mitchelle Dee was also in attendance alongside Senator Robin Padilla, who gave a speech on her NFT for her Autism Cause, where the Miss Universe coin was introduced. Shortly after this announcement, Miss Universe denied the existence of such a project, calling it a scam. On the organization’s Facebook page, it announced,
”It has come to our attention that a Miss Universe coin was introduced at Philippine Blockchain Week. The Miss Universe Organization and JKN Global Group are not associated or involved in any way and will be pursuing all legal options with regard to the infringement.
Miss Universe
In the announcement, the organization also urged its fans to use caution when investing in the coin as they try to do everything possible to shut down the coin publicly to ensure no one falls victim to the alleged fraud. They added that the products are not also involved in the voting or selection of the pageant holders.
A representative from Miss Universe has stated that they suspect that more announcements such as these will likely be made at blockchain conferences in Singapore and Dubai with the intention of defrauding. The Philippine Blockchain Week(PBW) said they are in cahoots with all involved parties and will announce an update soon.
Philippines Blockchain Week is supported by government agencies such as the Department of Tourism, the Department of Information and Communication Technology, and the Department of Trade. Sponsors of the event included Maya, Philippine Airlines, and Smart Communications, showing that this was a legitimate event.
Cryptocurrency scams in 2023
Crypto scams are seemingly the most profitable business in crypto crime. However, the total scam revenue has decreased in 2023, where scammers have managed to acquire 70%less of the revenue accumulated in June 2022. This drop is big news for the market as the scam levels significantly reduced even as the price movements went up. Even as crypto scams are down, Impersonating scams have taken a smaller hit than other scams.
Impersonating scams are where criminals impersonate authorities or organizations, such as the one with the Miss Universe Association, to get money from unsuspecting investors. The number of impersonating scam addresses has increased by 49% in 2023, which means more people have fallen victim to these scams even as the revenue decreases.
Apart from impersonating scams,2023 has shown an overall improvement from 2022 in terms of crypto crime. The sharp decline can be attributed to law enforcement efforts, which seem to frustrate criminal activity. Crypto businesses have also been at the frontline in ensuring that users are protected from fraudulent activities, which has been the norm in previous years. However, the recent announcement during the Philippines Blockchain Week indicates the need for vigilance while investing in crypto.
