Government House warned today that a fake advert that features the Governor is circulating on Facebook.

The advert, posted by a website called www.irranisto.com, includes a photograph of Rena Lalgie under the headline “Bermuda in Panic”.

A government spokeswoman said: “If you click on the link it takes you to a fake news article about a money making scheme.

“This website has been reported both to Facebook and the Bermuda Police Service.”

A police spokesman said: “Individuals behind this fraud have previously used the likeness of Premier David Burt and former finance minister, Curtis Dickinson.

“Most appear as advertisements on Facebook.”

The spokesmen said people were asked to click on a link in the advert and then invited to open an online account with a credit or card.

He added that the account showed a balance of $250 after card details are entered.

The spokesman said: “The users ‘online account’ shows their initial $250 balance massively increase over the next couple of days - which the victim is told is through Bitcoin trading - until it reaches a stage where it shows a $25,000 plus balance.

The victim is invited to ‘cash-out’, although there is usually a much bigger fee to do so - usually around $5,000.

“By now the victim has lost a lot of money and also their credit or debit card are compromised and may be used at a later stage.”

The spokesman said: “Do not click on the link in the advertisement and avoid falling victim to this latest version of online fraud.”