A fake Walmart press release announcing a partnership with litecoin caused a cryptocurrency to jump by almost 35 percent.
The press release was issued by news release distributor GlobeNewswire.
“Walmart had no knowledge of the press release issued by GlobeNewswire and there is no truth to it. Walmart has no relationship with litecoin,” a company spokesperson told Reuters.
GlobeNewswire published a notice to “disregard” the news release and said it had put in place enhanced authentication steps to prevent a similar incident from occurring in the future.
“We will work with the appropriate authorities to request – and facilitate – a full investigation, including into any criminal activity associated with this matter,” GlobeNewswire said in an emailed statement.
Litecoin Foundation said in a Twitter post it had no information on where the news release had originated.
