SpaceX YouTube Scam
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The length that scammers will go to dupe people is far and wide. This week’s new scam? Hackers hijacked three YouTube channels and leveraged them to fraudulently collect almost $150,000 in cryptocurrency. What?
The bad actors used these stolen channels to impersonate the official SpaceX YouTube channel. They went so far as to play fake livestream interviews with Elon Musk, founder and CEO of SpaceX, while promoting bogus cryptocurrency giveaways.
The giveaways were copied off an old-school scamming tactic in which cybercriminals ask for a small payment while promising a large payout for the so-called investment.
The scam worked well because:
- The YouTube channels gave the appearance of credibility and subscribers trusted it was legitimate.
- The hackers “investment offer” seemed to be coming from Elon Musk–a huge tech authority figure, rather than from a random stranger–so it seemed to be more authentic.
According to Knowbe4, Here’s a few takeaways from this scam:
- If something seems too good to be true–like an unbelievable investment opportunity–it probably is! Question everything.
- Whether it’s a phony website, a disguised email address, or a hijacked YouTube channel, anyone and anything can be spoofed.
- Experts speculate that the scammers gained access to these YouTube channels through a data breach of a different website. This is a great example of why you must use a different password for every login.
If you need assistance with cybersecurity services or employee security awareness training, give EnhancedTECH a call at 714-970-9330
Source: Knowbe4
Image Source: Pexels.com
