According to Malwarebytes, scammers have been capitalising on recent news of Elon Musk’s twitter purchase to push scam cryptocurrencies to users. Bot accounts posing as Elon Musk have been posting fake replies to tweets directing users to a fake version of news outlet Medium, on the page of a fake article advertising a cryptocurrency giveaway. Everything about the page is intended to convince the visitor that it’s all genuine, down to the numerous comments from “Medium users” saying they received their funds. Included on the page is a message saying: “Tesla 100 000 ETH Giveaway! To verify your address, just send from 0.5 to 100 ETH to the address below and get from 5 to 1000 ETH back!”.
Whenever there is an Elon Musk story, there is usually a cryptocurrency scam not too far behind. Although these accounts usually show very obvious signs of being fake or generated by bots, just like any phishing or other scam, these only need to be successful a handful of times to make them worthwhile for criminals.
Requesting cryptocurrencies in exchange for double the value back in return may seem absurd to the vast majority, but some people get caught up in the moment and act upon their greed before their due diligence.
Fake websites can be created in seconds to look authentic so it is vital that people verify their sources. It goes without saying to remain cautious of such scams and with digital asset thefts on the increase, it is also a timely reminder to keep your digital wallets and private keys safe from persistent attackers.