Cryptocurrency scammers have taken control of Indian YouTuber and influencer Ranveer Allahbadia’s channels to promote a scam promising up to 200% returns on cryptocurrency investments.
On September 25, Allahbadia, an Indian content creator, entrepreneur and social media influencer, became the latest victim of crypto scammers after hackers hijacked and rebranded several of his YouTube channels to live stream an AI-altered video of Elon Musk urging viewers to invest . in the “double your cryptocurrency” scam.
His first channel BeerBiceps boasts more than 7.8 million subscribers, as well as his personal channel Ranveer Allahbadia with more than 9.4 million subscribers and a third podcast channel with an audience of 1.2 million were hacked and rebranded as Tesla. , Elon Musk’s famous clean energy car company.
Hackers replaced logos and channel names and removed all previous content to appear like official Tesla platforms, aiming to trick viewers with fake cryptocurrency giveaways and fraudulent livestreams featuring Musk.
In the past, crypto scammers have long impersonated Musk and his companies such as SpaceX to scam unsuspecting crypto enthusiasts.
However, in this case, the thumbnail also featured US Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump alongside Musk, perhaps in an attempt to cash in on the hype surrounding the 2024 election when cryptocurrencies have become a major topic.
The videos had been removed at the time of publication, but posts from several X viewers show one of the streams had more than 149,000 people tuning in at one point.
As in previous cases, the live streams used a QR code that, when scanned, redirects users to a fake Tesla-branded website that features a $100 million giveaway.
Users were also greeted by an automated chatbot that described the dubious giveaway as an official event supported by Musk and Trump to “popularize cryptocurrency.”
The site provided wallet addresses for Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL) and Dogecoin (DOGE) and promised to return double the amount of the corresponding cryptocurrency sent to these wallets. To make everything look legitimate, a fake transaction history was also presented and automatically updated to make it appear as if people were actually transferring their funds.
A similar website was advertised through fake channels during Apple’s “Glowtime” event on September 9. Attackers used these fraudulent channels to impersonate an official event, impersonating Apple and CEO Tim Cook.
At the time of publication, the number of people affected by the scam remains unclear. However, the attack is particularly concerning due to the prominence of Allahbadia’s channels and the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies in India.
As of now, Allahbadia is yet to make an official statement regarding the incident.
The incident was the second attack on a prominent Indian YouTube channel, coming less than a week after the official YouTube channel of the Supreme Court of India was used to promote phishing links and scams involving Ripple executives and the XRP token.