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No. Treat any message claiming Bill Gates is giving away bitcoin as a scam—especially if it asks you to send bitcoin first. The Gates Foundation says purported prizes from Bill Gates or the foundation are scams. A specific post cannot be authenticated without its account, platform, link, or wallet address, so verify it independently and do not act on the message.
Why the offer is not credible
The Gates Foundation says it does not offer prizes through email, postal mail, telephone, fax, or in person. It also warns that scammers copy its branding, photographs, links, and other website material. A familiar name, face, logo, or official-looking account is not proof that an offer is genuine.
Bitcoin.org also warns about impostor accounts and convincing synthetic video or audio. Treat a video, livestream, or apparently verified profile as unverified until you confirm the claim through a separate official channel.
A documented example: the 2020 Twitter hack
A U.S. Department of Justice court filing describes the July 15, 2020 compromise of prominent Twitter accounts, including Bill Gates’s. Attackers posted from compromised accounts asking people to send bitcoin and promising to double what they sent. The filing says Gates stated that he had not written or posted those messages.
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The filing reports that the receiving address got hundreds of incoming bitcoin transfers and that none was returned, much less doubled. It does not give an exact number of transfers or a precise total amount in the passage reviewed.
What to do if you received a message
- Do not send bitcoin or pay a fee. An upfront transfer is not a legitimate way to claim a prize.
- Do not share personal or financial information or wallet credentials. A prize claim is no reason to reveal passwords, recovery phrases, or account details.
- Do not use links or reply addresses in the message to verify it. Contact the organization through a route you find independently.
- Check the complete receiving address and verify through a second channel before any bitcoin transfer. Bitcoin.org warns that bitcoin transactions are irreversible.
How to verify and report it
If a message claims to come from or be endorsed by the Gates Foundation, use the contact details on its official scam-reporting page, not contact information supplied by the sender. The foundation lists [email protected] for suspicious communications and says it may not be able to respond to every report. U.S. readers can also use the Federal Trade Commission fraud-reporting service linked from that page.
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The foundation’s FAQ separately answers whether an email saying someone won a foundation lottery or a prize from Bill Gates is true: “No, this is a scam.” The fact that the foundation supports philanthropy does not make a private bitcoin offer to individuals legitimate.
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