Elon Musk has issued a warning to consumers about the newest deepfake cryptocurrency fraud
Deepfakes are aplenty! To prey on unwary social media users, crypto fraudsters create a deep fake video of Elon Musk’s TED lecture. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, has distanced himself from yet another phony film pushing a cryptocurrency hoax. The video in question was a deepfake of Musk reportedly advertising a cryptocurrency platform with 30 percent returns on crypto deposits, which was originally published on Twitter.
Original footage from a TED Talk featuring Musk and curator Chris Anderson at a TED conference in Vancouver in April this year was used by scammers. Musk, who has been increasingly active since his acquisition of the social media network for an estimated $44 billion, saw the tweet and video. The video elicited a response from Tesla CEO Elon Musk and SpaceX founder Elon Musk.
Musk’s worldwide reputation as a technological pioneer has made him a popular target for con artists aiming to prey on unsuspecting social media users and investors. Users who aren’t very tech-savvy are in danger of being deceived by schemes that promise unrealistic returns on investment. Scams involving bitcoin were common in 2020 and 2021, with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issuing a study estimating that over $80 million in cryptocurrency was taken from unsuspecting victims over a six-month period.
Because of Musk’s interest in cryptocurrencies and his pro-Dogecoin stance, fake YouTube live streaming became a popular weapon. Musk’s now-famous performance on Saturday Night Live proved to be a moneymaker for fraudsters, with the Federal Trade Commission focusing on fake addresses that received 9.7 million Dogecoin worth $5 million in May of last year.
Musk’s purchase of Twitter was accompanied by vows to support free expression on the network, as well as a commitment in his Ted address to eliminate an increasing amount of spam and scam bots that have fleeced users of millions of dollars in recent years. Blockchain technology has been hailed as a possible weapon in the fight against deepfake and fake news. However, the fact is that fake news continues to abound on social media sites.
Read more: Elon Musk Offers $43 Billion for Twitter Takeover — A “Hostile” Takeover?
