Sri Lanka, 25 July 2023: UK based global renewable energy developer Hive Energy raises the alarm over the imitation and misappropriation of Hive Energy’s corporate branding and logo in an effort to deceive individuals in Sri Lanka.
Hive Energy does not have a business in Sri Lanka and was made aware of fake webpages and social media accounts that have been set up by unknown and unascertainable persons falsely claiming to be “Hive Energy”.
Operating under the secrecy of the internet, these persons appear to be promoting a dubious investment scheme by misappropriating Hive Energy’s logo and branding and using Hive Energy’s corporate information available in the public domain. This illegal activity has included the creation of an App, that misuses Hive Energy’s logo, and associated imagery to mislead Sri Lankans into investing their money and sharing their financial details. In addition, images of fake company registration documents are being circulated to falsely claim that Hive Energy is carrying on business in Sri Lanka, which is not the case.
Hive Energy condemns this dishonest and illegal use of its branding, logo and related imagery to defraud people, and wishes to make it clear that it does not undertake any business in Sri Lanka. At no point has Hive Energy operated any investment scheme or solicited any investments from the public whether by way of any app or otherwise. The fake webpages, social media accounts and App have no affiliation to or connection with Hive Energy or any of its related companies.
Hive Energy asks people in Sri Lanka and elsewhere to exercise due caution and vigilance regarding any websites, social media accounts or apps claiming to be associated with “Hive Energy”. People are requested to block anyone who approaches them to subscribe to or invest in any financial scheme under the guise of being “Hive Energy”, and to report such profiles or accounts to the relevant social media platforms for illegal behaviour.
Hive Energy also urges people to:
- refrain from investing their money or disclosing their financial information in relation to any financial or investment scheme under the name of “Hive Energy”;
- avoid downloading any “Hive Energy app” or visiting, subscribing to or otherwise following any websites or social media accounts promoting any financial or investment scheme in the name of “Hive Energy”; and
- disregard any claims or testimonials on social media endorsing such schemes.
Alex Lane, Hive Energy Legal Counsel, comments: “We are deeply concerned that dishonest, unknown persons, who have absolutely no connection to the real Hive Energy, have stolen our branding and are deceiving people to part with their money.
“We want to raise awareness of the scam in Sri Lanka and call on people to refrain from investing their money or sharing compromising personal and financial details. We implore anyone targeted by the copy-cat online scammers to ignore, block and report all communications.”
Hive Energy is based in the UK and operates across over 20 countries but does not have any business in or links with Sri Lanka