Elon Musk Impersonated in Deepfake $20M Crypto Giveaway

Highlights:

• A deepfake video falsely shows Elon Musk promoting a $20M crypto giveaway.
• The scam video directs viewers to a fraudulent website, Elon4u.com.
• Scammers use deepfake technology to create realistic videos, exploiting Elon Musk’s image.

A new deepfake video of Elon Musk has been released and viewed by millions of people, promoting a fake $20 million crypto giveaway. This deceptive clip features an actor who looks like Musk, guiding the viewers to a website called Elon4u.com. The giveaway was supposed to happen from the 13th of December up to the 20th of December, which is a complete scam.

Shortly after the video went viral, a crypto community influencer popularly known as DogeDesigner on X (previously Twitter) came in to debunk the crypto giveaway. DogeDesigner confirmed this, stating that neither Elon Musk nor any of his companies are involved in such schemes. This clarification has been very important in informing the public of the ongoing scam.

BREAKING: A deepfake of Elon Musk promoting a $20 million crypto giveaway is going viral.

Elon Musk and his companies are NOT doing any crypto giveaways. Don’t fall for scams! Stay safe. pic.twitter.com/HdtCqNfHoX

— DogeDesigner (@cb_doge) December 15, 2024

Increasing Threats from Sophisticated Scams

The recent advancement of the deepfake technology brings in a new problem of identifying whether an announcement is real or fake. These videos are capable of imitating the look and sound of celebrities and politicians, which makes frauds believable. The event in question serves as a reminder of the necessity of checking the information received from the sources, especially when it comes to the area of cryptocurrencies.

Over the years, online scammers have impersonated Musk many times to gain people’s trust and entice them into making fake investments. These scams often falsely claim high profitability and urge the users to transfer cryptocurrency to specific wallets owned by scammers.

People should resist offers that appear overly attractive, especially those emphasized on social media platforms. These precautions include fact-checking information from other reputable sources and avoiding dodgy websites such as Elon4u.com.

Celebrities Targeted by Crypto Scams

Hackers targeted Drake’s X account on the 15th of December with the intention of advertising fake memecoin called Anita. The hackers claimed that the launch of this fake memecoin was a collaborative effort with Stake, a betting site endorsed by Drake, coinciding with his new tour named “Anita Max Wynn.”

🚨 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐤𝐞’𝐬 𝐗 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝!

Scammers used his 39M followers to push $ANITA, a fake meme coin on Solana, claiming a collab with Stake.

$5M traded before the fraud unraveled. Celebs like Cardi B & Doja Cat face similar hacks.

Stay vigilant! ⚠️ pic.twitter.com/Lqgc1EoqVv

— Cryptonomist (@CryptonomistX) December 15, 2024

Within just a few hours of its launch, the scam attracted more than 7,000 buy orders. Moreover, the trading volume climbed to $4.9 million before authorities removed the fake post. Blockchain investigator ZachXBT and others quickly recognized the coin as a scam. Drake’s endorsement of cryptocurrencies is likely to have boosted the authenticity of the fake project despite the suspension of the account. 

Rise in Crypto Scams on Social Media

Scams in X have been on the rise, particularly crypto scams, with the scammers now focusing on high-profile accounts. According to the blockchain security company Scam Sniffer, there were more than 300 fake crypto accounts per day identified, compared to 160 in November. These scams usually use influencer or organization names to trick people into joining Telegram groups.

🚨 SCAM ALERT: Surge in X Impersonations 📈

Our monitoring system detected a significant increase in crypto fake accounts this week, with daily numbers reaching 300+ (vs. Nov avg. 160) 📊

⚠️ Two victims lost over $3M recently from clicking malicious links/signing transactions… pic.twitter.com/eGhG1GPX0r

— Scam Sniffer | Web3 Anti-Scam (@realScamSniffer) December 10, 2024

Victims are tricked into using bots like OfficialSafeguardBot for fake identity verification. These bots deploy malware to access crypto wallets and steal private keys. VirusTotal has flagged this malware, confirming several thefts.