The Government of Dubai has announced that the cryptocurrency DubaiCoin had never been authorised as a digital currency, and is instead a part of an “elaborate phishing scam.”

The official media arm of the government, the Dubai Media Office, tweeted on Friday: “DubaiCoin cryptocurrency was never approved by any official authority. The website promoting the coin is an elaborate phishing campaign that is designed to steal personal information from its visitors.”

The explanation comes days after a false news release stated that DubaiCoin has been recognised as the city’s “de-facto digital currency.” The press release, issued by the PR Newswire on May 24, provided a link to a website “dub-pay.com” where consumers may reserve the virtual currency for $0.17 per coin. The coin’s value soared by 1,000 percent soon after the hoax announcement.

The PR Newswire has since removed the false announcement, which was released in the name of Arabian Chain Technology, a legitimate blockchain company situated in Dubai. DubaiCoin (DBIX) is its own virtual currency that the corporation promotes.

Arabian Chain Technology sought to distance itself from the scandal, and insisted in a statement on May 26 that they never issued the press release.

“We haven’t made such an announcement, please be cautious. Also this website : http://dub-pay.com/en/ is fake and scam. Please be careful,” the blockchain company wrote in a tweet.

Visitors interested in purchasing DubaiCoin using the aforementioned website, which is now inaccessible, were invited to fill out a form with their name, phone number, address, and email address. According to the preserved version of the page, after filling out the form, an agent would call and change their money to Dubaicoin.

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Between May 24 and 25, the value of the coin increased by 1,000 percent to $1.50. According to Trading View, the value has now reduced to $0.32 in wake of the explanation issued by the firm and the Dubai government.