YouTube stringent measures against crypto-related content appear to be bearing fruits. The recent detection of Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong crypto scam is a true testimony that the platform is working round the clock to curb scam lined content before they go viral.
Scammers recently managed to hijack a high profile YouTube channel and streamed an impersonated Ask-me-Anything (AMA) live with the Coinbase CEO, Brian Armstrong. However, the scam stream that started on April 6 lasted for about 12 hours.
YouTubers were required to make payments using Bitcoin (BTC) and get a reward worth 5,000 BTC. YouTube has already removed the stream citing community guideline violations.
Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong crypto scam, not an isolated incident
The scam is not an isolated online case. This is similar to scams perpetrated by Twitter con artists where accounts are created impersonating a celebrity or market influencer. Most of these have good crypto portfolios and can afford BTC or other digital asset giveaways.
They generate crypto addresses and direct their “fans” to send select amounts of crypto to receive crypto rewards in return. Unsuspected “fans” end up being scammed in the hope that the giveaway will be double what they send.
It is not clear how someone can hack a high profile TopTenz YouTube account bosting of over 1.6 million subscribers. However, the channel has changed the brand name to CoinbasePro English showing past AMA footage with the CEO.
The scam looks authentic to the casual victim; the recent one comes with a BTC address and a QR code. It also came with a simple message; double the sent amount. Once you release any amount, it is not reversible.
A spot check on the Block Explorer portal, only a single transaction worth 0.44 BTC received on the given address. However, two previously circulated addresses had received 4.3 BTC and 2.54 respectively. However, by press time, TopTenz, Coinbase, and YouTube had not reacted to the claims.
Similar incidents in the recent past
Scams in crypto are not new, just last month, a fake YouTube account emerged impersonating the Ripple CEO, Brand Garlinghouse in an airdrop scam. With the coronavirus pandemic, more scams in the form of a charitable organization are set to surface.
Some giveaways are tempting but the blockchain industry is highly risky and due diligence should always prevail. Before you try to double your crypto, it is important to authenticate the source and you can always confirm address activity with Block Explorer in case of BTC.