Scammers promote fake Elon Musk coin on YouTube

Close up of a browser with YouTube.com loaded and Elon MuskCriminals are turning to YouTube to target unsuspecting victims with promises of great returns on fake cryptocurrencies.Scammers are on pace to steal nearly US$1 million from YouTube users by purchasing ad space on cryptocurrency videos to promote a fake SpaceX coin that they fraudulently claim was created by Elon Musk, new research from Tenable has found.Also read: $4.5bn lost: 5 biggest crypto scams of all timeAlso read: 30% a year: Scammers flock to the crypto marketAlso read: Scammers use Tinder, ATO to fleece Aussies of $851 millionThe campaign follows on from an earlier scam where scammers compromised Twitter and YouTube accounts to promote a series of cryptocurrency scams ahead of Musk’s appearance on Saturday Night Live.That scam resulted in the criminals stealing over $10 million dollars in Bitcoin, Ethereum and Doge tokens.Staff research engineer at Tenable, Satnam Narang, said these scams highlight how social media is increasingly being used by scammers as a resource to perpetuate crypto-related fraud.Scam warning signsNarang said the ads are three to five minutes long and include a fake tweet from Elon Musk that claims he’s launching his own cryptocurrency called $SpaceX.The scam features a fake…
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