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- Crypto scams are soaring globally via Twitter and Youtube like social platforms
- Scammers are using popular channels and accounts to erode the trust of individuals
- It is estimated that the scammers have already laundered more than $10 million worth of cryptocurrencies
- Following the scams, Satnam Narang considered that the social platforms should scrutinize accounts and channels with a large number of followers
Crypto scams are increasing globally, where scammers are stealing millions worth of cryptocurrency using fake giveaways. Recently, Satnam Narang, staff research engineer at the cyber exposure firm Tenable found dozens of accounts on Youtube and Twitter leading such scams. According to Narang’s estimation, the scammers would have hooked more than $10 million worth of Dogecoin, Bitcoin, and Ethereum. During such scam campaigns, few popular Youtube channels globally were observed promoting dummy crypto giveaways.
How are the scammers stealing crypto?
Popular Youtube channels around the world have been observed being hijacked. After being seized, such channels are found promoting crypto giveaway scams. On the other side, it is also observed that few Twitter accounts were also used for promoting fake giveaways.
Elon Musk had recently tweeted a poll asking whether Tesla should accept DOGE in exchange for its cars. Following the replies on the tweet, it is observed that an account entitled “Tesla” with a verified badge claimed for a giveaway of 100,000,000 DOGE event. However, the fake verified account was attempting to drive the users to another fake giveaway site.
According to the analysis of Narang, more than $9.4 million worth of Dogecoins have been stolen by such scammers. Also, it is estimated that more than $609K worth Bitcoin and $423K worth Ethereum have been stolen. The scammers using one YouTube channel have rotated multiple domains and wallet addresses and scammed $1.6 million worth DOGE.
Social platforms need heightened cybersecurity measures
The followers of popular social accounts rely on verified badges that are invaluable. Hence, the scammers are eroding such trust of individuals using such badges. According to Narang, it seems that social organizations should now scrutinize such accounts and enforce more stringent policies, which can at least help stem the tide.
Following the success of scammers, Narang explained that there is an urgent need for heightened cybersecurity measures. Following that crypto scams are using platforms like YouTube and Twitter, Narang deemed that proactive steps to monitor for changes of verified accounts and channels would help stop such scams. Moreover, such social platforms should ensure two-factor authentication on such accounts with a large number of followers.
