Number of Youtube Crypto Stream Scams and Fake Domains Explodes in H1 2022 – During the first half of 2022, the number of domains used to carry out cryptocurrency frauds has increased. The number of these sites, which are used as welcome pages for Youtube scam streams, has increased fivefold during the first half of this year, claims a research released by Group-IB, a Singapore-based online security firm. These domains totaled more than 2,000 registrations.
Most of these cryptocurrency scam websites employ well-known individuals with connections to cryptocurrencies in their identities to entice victims. They include Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador, and Cristiano Ronaldo, a well-known soccer player, as well as other well-known proponents of cryptocurrencies like Michael Saylor and Elon Musk.
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Despite being targeted primarily at the Spanish and English-speaking groups of cryptocurrency investors, more than 60% of these domains were registered by Russian businesses.
Due to the existence of an underground market where all the software needed to set up a phony Youtube-hosted cryptocurrency stream is sold, as well as the considerable attention that these streams draw, the expansion of this type of scam is made possible. The majority of these are successful in drawing in 10,000 to 20,000 viewers on average, thanks to keywords like ETH, Ark, Shiba, and XRP, among others.
Regarding this, Group-IB said: “Scammers have the following at their disposal: an exchange platform for hacked Youtube accounts, viewer boosting services, manuals, website editors, admin panel developers, domain names, bulletproof hosting, and tools and people who can create deepfake videos.”
Number of Youtube Crypto Stream Scams and Fake Domains Explodes in H1 2022 – In order to deceive representatives of token teams and obtain payment for a potential listing chance, hackers have even been able to build live holograms of exchange personnel using deepfakes.
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Additionally, there are services for designing these websites and the artwork used to entice individuals to invest in these scams. The company advises consumers to be on the lookout for too-good-to-be-true cryptocurrency freebies and to always confirm the legitimacy of the sources promoting them.
