Crypto Scammers Produce a Deepfake Video

Cryptocurrency scammers create a deepfake video of Elon Musk’s TED lecture to prey on unwary social media users. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, has distanced himself from yet another phoney movie pushing a cryptocurrency hoax.

The video in issue, uploaded initially on Twitter, was a deepfake of Musk reportedly touting a cryptocurrency platform with 30 per cent returns on crypto deposits. Scammers used actual footage from a TED Talk featuring Musk and curator Chris Anderson at this year’s TED conference in Vancouver.

The tweet and video piqued Musk’s interest; who has been increasingly active since his decision to acquire the social media network for an estimated $44 billion. Musk’s global reputation as a technology pioneer has made him a popular target for scammers; they are trying to prey on unsuspecting social media users and investors. Scams claiming outsized returns on investment pose a risk to less-tech-savvy customers. Moreover, the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a study estimating that over $80 million in cryptocurrency was taken from unsuspecting victims over six months.

A New Form of Scam

Given Musk’s interest in bitcoin and his pro-Dogecoin stance, fake YouTube live streams became a weapon of choice. Musk’s now-famous appearance on the American television show Saturday Night Live proved to be a cash cow for scammers. The FTC focused on fake addresses that received approximately 9.7 million Dogecoin worth $5 million in May last year. Creators employ artificial intelligence and computer-generated images, video, and audio to influence, confuse, or swindle consumers with material that is frequently so lifelike that it is difficult to distinguish reality from fiction. Blockchain technology is a possible technique for combating deepfake and fake news.

Block’s 2022 Bitcoin research polled 9,500 people from all over the world; it revealed that more optimistic people had a higher self-reported knowledge level of cryptocurrency.