Over the weekend, a deepfake live stream featuring Elon Musk scammed crypto users on YouTube. The now-deleted stream, which had more than 30,000 viewers, urged people to deposit Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin on a fake website.
The stream ran for five hours and utilized AI-generated videos of Musk, appearing to host a Tesla event. Viewers were promised double the cryptocurrency they deposited. The account, “@elon.teslastream,” posed as Tesla with a verification badge, but Google eventually removed both the video and the channel.
This incident is part of a series of crypto scams using deepfakes of Elon Musk. Similar scams occurred during the April 8 solar eclipse and again on May 8, prompting warnings from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission.
AI-generated videos have become a major tool for crypto scammers. According to an Elliptic report, AI can accelerate crypto scams, threatening the credibility of both AI and the crypto industry. Engadget was the first to report this live scam.
The rise in AI-driven scams highlights the urgent need for better security measures in both AI and cryptocurrency sectors.
