Bill Gates-Themed Crypto Ponzi Scam on YouTube surfaced

A cryptocurrency Ponzi scam targeting thousands of users through multiple hijacked YouTube accounts.

Researchers have discovered tens of YouTube accounts that were compromised by hackers to spread fake messages posing as Microsoft's former CEO Bill Gates. The hackers reportedly renamed the compromised YouTube channels to various Microsoft brands. The hackers were observed broadcasting a cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme via these channels to target tens of thousands of users.

Hackers use these accounts to broadcast a classic "crypto giveaway" scheme in the Bill Gates-themed scam. The hackers live stream an old Bill Gates talk on startups (where he spoke to an audience at Village Global in June 2019), and also asking the viewers to participate in a giveaway which is nothing but a scam.

Hackers manipulate victims into sending them a small sum of cryptocurrency so that they can double their earnings. The cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme was streaming live on the compromised YouTube accounts. It is using names such as Microsoft US, Microsoft Europe, Microsoft News, and others.

The hackers targeted the vast majority of live streams on YouTube channels with high subscriber counts.  Based on YouTube stream stats, tens of thousands have seen the video feeds. NPAV recommends the users to never trust such schemes online where you need to invest your money as hackers primarily target and profit from such scams.

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