A YouTube Live broadcast that ran for five hours used a deepfake of Elon Musk to promote a cryptocurrency scam. The video, which has since been removed, featured an AI-generated version of Musk’s voice and image, misleading viewers into believing it was a live Tesla event. The deepfake instructed viewers to deposit bitcoin, Ethereum, or Dogecoin to participate in a giveaway that falsely promised to double their cryptocurrency.
At its peak, the stream attracted over 30,000 viewers, although these numbers may have been inflated by bots. The account behind the stream, @elon.teslastream, was verified with the Official Artist Channel badge, suggesting a possible account hack. Both the video and the channel were taken down after Engadget contacted Google for intervention.
This incident is part of a troubling trend of deepfake scams involving Elon Musk. Previous scams have used similar tactics, with fake livestreams pretending to be from Musk’s companies, such as SpaceX. These scams have been reported on various platforms, including Reddit and Cointelegraph, showing an increase in such fraudulent activities.
The growing prevalence of deepfake scams highlights the need for better verification and security measures on social media platforms. As these tactics become more sophisticated, both viewers and platforms must remain vigilant to prevent falling victim to such deceitful schemes.
Reference:
