Presidential Office warns against fraudster using Pavel's picture

Prague, August 7 (CTK) - The Presidential Office today warned the public against fraudsters who repeatedly misuse the photograph of President Petr Pavel and the logo of the CEZ energy group to try to extort money from people, stressing it has nothing to do with this deceptive advertising and calling for increased caution.

"In connection with the repeated occurrence of deceptive and fraudulent advertising enticing people to increase the value of their money and misusing the photo of President Peter Pavel and the logo of the CEZ group, we warn against fraudsters and urge everyone to be more careful. President Petr Pavel and the Czech Presidential Office emphatically reject any connection with this fraudulent activity," the office said in a statement posted on its website today.

The media have previously warned of fraudulent practices promising investments in large Czech companies backed by well-known personalities that are supposed to bring up to tenfold appreciation. The fraudsters use the names of, for instance, Pavel, Prime Minister Petr Fiala (Civic Democrats, ODS), presidential candidate and economist Danuse Nerudova.

The state-controlled CEZ energy group has also previously distanced itself from fraudulent advertising. Fraudsters abused the graphics of this company and claimed that CEZ had developed a new way of trading in shares and cryptocurrencies. CEZ stressed that it had never provided any investment services of this type and that it was trying to remove the fraudulent ads from the Internet.

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