Cryptocurrency scam on YouTube: How to spot one
Most of the cryptocurrency scams on YouTube have the same pattern and design and are easily recognizable if the user notices. In this case, the fake live stream has a string of Apple keywords in both the title and description. However, upon opening it, users found some strange messages linking to a cryptocurrency website that looked suspicious.
This live stream also had other signs that the video was fake. For example, the video is said to have an odd title – “Apple Event Live. Apple CEO Tim Cook: Apple & Metaverse in 2022.” — and it includes an old interview with Tim Cook conducted by CNN in 2018.
Moreover, the streamer even added Bitcoin and Ethereum the video stream logo and hide the CNN Money logo with the words “Apple Crypto Event 2022.” The impostor even added bold pieces of text that read – “URGENT NEWS” – at the bottom.
Furthermore, when a user clicks on the channel’s page (declared as “Apple LIVE”), the URL doesn’t take them anywhere near the Apple website. This may indicate that the channel originally had a different purpose but is believed to have been hijacked by cyber attackers to host the spoofed stream.
Fake live stream timing to fool YouTubers
However, the fake YouTube live stream is not Apple’s, it takes place while the Cupertino giant is getting huge attention worldwide. Apple streamed the iPhone announcement event 14 hours before the fake YouTube video started streaming. This misleading stream tries to mislead users who know about Apple’s big day but don’t know what the actual event is.
Additionally, YouTube has taken down another live stream on another channel that claims to be Apple Inc. This fake live stream appears to be an event featuring Tim Cook and Tesla CEO Elon Musk discuss Apple and metaverse. However, it was just an old interview with Musk and Unit leader Jack Dorsey where they discuss Bitcoin. Even this video has reached over 10,000 streams and is also linked to a suspicious crypto website in chat.
