Crypto Scammers Raise $ 9 Million In October With Fake YouTube Live Streams

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A new study has found that crooks compromised YouTube videos and made at least $ 8.9 million in the month of October alone from fake cryptocurrency giveaways.

According to Tenable’s research, the crooks exploited live YouTube videos featuring influential figures in the crypto space and took advantage of the promotion of bogus giveaways involving Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, Cardano, Ripple, and Shiba Inu.

Bitcoin-related scams had the highest returns at $ 8.2 million, while Ethereum scams grossed $ 413,000. Additionally, they leverage the popularity of SHIB to earn around $ 239,000.

Research indicates that crooks have deployed three key elements to promote crypto fake giveaways, including the use of notable personalities in the cryptocurrency space, with cryptocurrencies increasing in value alongside newsworthy events.

The videos were crafted in such a way as to feature an unrelated interview involving notable personalities. The videos were already available on YouTube. The images also featured a fake tweet highlighting the giveaway event alongside a section that promised viewers that if they sent any amount of the affected crypto, they would double it.

A screenshot of the fake crypto giveaway on YouTube. Source: TenableNotable figures used in YouTube scams

Some of the notable figures used in the scams include Michael Saylor, president and CEO of MicroStrategy, Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum; Charles Hoskinson, founder of Cardano and co-founder of Ethereum; Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple Labs; and Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla.

“Scammers recognize that users trust influential voices a lot, so create fake videos featuring cryptocurrency founders and co-founders as well as notable people associated with cryptocurrency companies or CEOs of companies who have promoted the use and discussed the purchase of cryptocurrencies for their business balance sheets, ”said a spokesperson for Tenable.

Plus, they took advantage of newsworthy events like Elon Musk’s appearance on Saturday Night Live. Musk was highly anticipated to talk about DOGE pushing the asset’s price to a new high during the show. In this line, crooks hijacked YouTube accounts with millions of subscribers to anticipate events and the potential impact on the cryptocurrency at hand.

Additionally, the study warned that despite educating the public to spot and avoid falling victim to scams, fraudsters will continue to evolve in their craft as they adopt new methods.

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