The new methods of defrauding victims are being devised by crooks as new research shows that they have now doctored YouTube videos of influential people in the industry to promote fake coins giveaways.
According to the research done by Tenable, cryptocurrencies scammers were able to defraud unspeculative individuals of around $9 million in October due to fake promotions of giveaways involving crypto-assets like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Doge coin, Cardano, Ripple, and Shiba Inu.
Tenable revealed that the scammers tend to use old, irrelevant, and unrelated YouTube interview videos featuring popular individuals in the industry like Elon Musk, Vitalik Buterin, Michael Saylor, and others, while accompanying the videos with tweets detailing the fake giveaway event.
The scammers usually have a dedicated section in the video comment section where they promise to double the number of donations that the viewers send to their desired wallet address.
A cursory look at the research shows how the scammers profited from the fraud. The report says that fraudsters got more than $8 million fromBitcoin related scams, while they got $413,000 from giveaway scams on the second largest asset by market cap,Ethereum.
It was also revealed that the scammers profited from the growing popularity of the meme coin, Shiba Inu, as they were able to defraud people by around $240,000.
The Tenable research stated that the scammers tend to leverage newsworthy events in the space to carry out their nefarious operations. When Elon Musk appeared on the Saturday Night Live show, a report revealed that the scammers hijacked a number of YouTube videos to promote fake giveaways scams of the show, and they were able to steal $9 million.
We have reported a number of crypt-related scams in which the perpetrators of the crime have been able to swindle unsuspecting individuals. It is important to keep in mind the giveaways that promise to double their assets, and to do their own research before investing in any coin or participating in any event.