Kroger Co (KR.N) is investigating the issuance of a false press release claiming that bitcoin cash is accepted at its stores, the grocer said on Friday, after becoming the second big retailer in recent weeks to be caught up in a cryptocurrency scam.
The press statement, which stated that Kroger will take cryptocurrency this holiday season, was later removed from Kroger’s investor relations page. The page, which is automatically updated, receives a direct feed from PR Newswire (PRN), where the bogus release also appeared, according to the company.
“This communication was fraudulent and is unfounded and should be disregarded,” a company spokesperson said in an emailed statement, adding that Kroger was in touch with PRN on the issue.
The phony notification was taken down by PRN, which claimed it was “urgently investigating the occurrence, including any criminal conduct linked with this matter.”
Bitcoin cash is a fork of bitcoin’s underlying software code that was started in 2017 by a small number of bitcoin miners, largely from China.
In September, a phony press release announcing cooperation between the world’s largest store and litecoin was issued, resulting in a cryptocurrency hoax. The announcement caused a temporary spike in the price of the little-known cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin values fell marginally when Kroger claimed the announcement was a hoax.
The Securities and Exchange Commission said it would not comment on “the existence or nonexistence” of a possible inquiry into the false news release, according to a representative.
