Bitcoin scam on YouTube disguised as Coinbase CEO steals over $50K
A popular YouTube channel was hacked and it live-streamed ask-me-anything (AMA) with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong.
The streaming ran of over 12 hours on April 6 and it encouraged users to send Bitcoin (BTC) payments while promising users for a non-existent $5,000 BTC giveaway, Cointelegraph reported.
The scam was similar to the format of the infamous Twitter con that deceived the users by encouraging them to send cryptocurrency to a given address and promising them to return the amount two to 10 times fold. However, it was a scam because the bitcoin given away was not multiplied, let alone returned to the sender.
The account that was hijacked, TopTenz, was already well-established with 1.63 million subscribers. It was rebranded as “CoinbasePRO English.” It live-streamed the AMA using the old, looped footage of Armstrong answering various questions from the viewers.
The stream provided a Bitcoin address and a QR code and promised the users that any Bitcoin sent will be doubled when it is returned. However, viewers will only lose their cryptocurrency when they send some away because it will never be doubled or even returned to them.
According to Blockchain.com, 0.44 BTC was sent to the address promoted through the “giveaway.” The address was only live for two hours. Meanwhile, two previous addresses were also advertised and it received 2.548 BTC and 4.209 BTC, respectively. Overall, a total of 7.2 BTC were lost which is equivalent to $51,200 at press time.
Meanwhile, Jane Jackson’s ex-husband Wissam Al Mana demanded Facebook to drop the names of the people behind the bogus crypto scam ad that used his photo. Al Mana claimed defamation, malicious falsehood and false advertising from the purported crypto firm “Bitcoin Trader.”
He also sued Facebook Ireland Ltd and all the parties involved in the ads. The social media giant already removed the ads, but Al Mana was concerned that fraudsters would publish similar ads using him in the future.
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