A YouTube cryptocurrency giveaway scam has been exposed by the Singapore-based cybersecurity firm Group-IB. Promising high profit in return of crypto investments has led the fraudsters to leave with more than $1 680 000, although the real amount is not known at the moment.
The reports stated that these schemers ran 36 falsified crypto giveaways using YouTube streaming services as its main platform. The streams included shots of notable millionaires and influencers Elon Musk, Vitalik Buteran, and others. The streams were expertly edited, taking real life footage from past events to make a believable video encouraging investments in the scam. On average, each stream attracted between 3 000 and 18 000 viewers.
Group-IB reported that the video’s description pages contained links to the fraudulent websites, most of which contained the same crypto wallet addresses to which money was invested. The experts at the cybersecurity firm had detected more than 30 different crypto wallet and 29 websites. It was further discovered that these sources were a part of an intricate network of 583 interconnected resources.
As for the YouTube channels, the means of their acquiring has also been exposed- the accounts were either purchased or hacked.
The defrauding of the victims happened mainly between February 16th through 18th of this year. The number of victims and the total money stolen is yet to be discovered.
Source
Financial regulators have long been warning crypto scammers are using social media and YouTube for such nefarious purposes. I wish people would pay more attention to such warnings.
The reports stated that these schemers ran 36 falsified crypto giveaways using YouTube streaming services as its main platform. The streams included shots of notable millionaires and influencers Elon Musk, Vitalik Buteran, and others. The streams were expertly edited, taking real life footage from past events to make a believable video encouraging investments in the scam. On average, each stream attracted between 3 000 and 18 000 viewers.
Group-IB reported that the video’s description pages contained links to the fraudulent websites, most of which contained the same crypto wallet addresses to which money was invested. The experts at the cybersecurity firm had detected more than 30 different crypto wallet and 29 websites. It was further discovered that these sources were a part of an intricate network of 583 interconnected resources.
As for the YouTube channels, the means of their acquiring has also been exposed- the accounts were either purchased or hacked.
The defrauding of the victims happened mainly between February 16th through 18th of this year. The number of victims and the total money stolen is yet to be discovered.
Source
Financial regulators have long been warning crypto scammers are using social media and YouTube for such nefarious purposes. I wish people would pay more attention to such warnings.
