Someone impersonated networking equipment giant TP-Link, claiming to have built a Wi-Fi router (opens in a new tab) capable of mining cryptocurrencies with very high levels of efficiency. alumni.
Among those who fell for the obvious scam were news service providers Accesswire, who issued a press release from the purported company, announcing the product.
In the press release, issued in early March of this year, the company says that interested parties can now order its "revolutionary" mining router, the NX31. The device, advertised for €1,440, is "loaded with features and benefits that make it superior to competing miners," and is "without a doubt the largest of its kind and will change the mining industry."
If those words weren't enough to alert readers, there's an even better one: In two parts of the press release, the company has a different name. In the first sentence it is called "TP-Link ASIC", while below it refers to itself simply as "TP-Link".
At the bottom of the press release is a website inviting interested parties to learn more about the product which again introduces the company as "tplinkasic".
Finally, current TP-Link representatives answered questions from Tom's Hardware and confirmed that they are not affiliated with or have anything to do with this product. The company is currently looking into the matter and is trying to remove the fraudulent press release from news websites.
At the same time, looking at scammers' websites, besides NX31, there is another "miner" they sell - D11 Doge miner (Doge is a cryptocurrency joke and Bitcoin fork, often promoted by Elon Musk), which advertised for €570.
The website does have a shopping cart, but it is unknown at this time how many victims (if any) have decided to try and buy the devices.
Via: Tom's Hardware (opens in a new tab)