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Deepfakes of Elon Musk promising untold riches in cryptocurrency are all over TikTok at the moment, linked to either the billionaire himself or his related projects and brands such as SpaceX or Starlink.
According to reporting from Bleeping Computer, the videos are being posted at an hourly rate, and are largely using similar templates, and point to a raft of websites – all with similar names, such as moonexio[.]com, altgetxio[.]com, and cratopex[.]com.
The scams are relatively simple and follow a similar script. Many exclaim that Musk has “lost his mind” and is simply giving money away, while others are more like testimonials from apparent lucky recipients of the X owner’s largesse.
“#bitcointrading Thank you, Elon!” read one, and “Elon Musk has lost his mind! I can’t believe my eyes!” read another.
Once victims reach one of the scam websites, they are directed to use a promo code from the original video, after which the website claims to deposit crypto into their wallet. But to access the apparent deposit, an “account activation” fee must be paid before the funds can be accessed.
This amount isn’t large – just .005 bitcoins, or US$132, in the example Bleeping Computer shared – but with the reach of the scams on TikTok, it doesn’t take too many people falling victim to make the profits add up.
Unsurprisingly, the activation fee does not activate anything – the scammers simply steal it. Some scams even collect KYC information or “know your customer”. This data is normally used to verify a legitimate customer, but in the hands of scammers, it can be used for further crypto theft.
Elon Musk was used in a similar video scam on YouTube back in January 2203. The videos showed an apparent livestream from Musk himself with updates on ongoing SpaceX missions. During the video, a tweet is shown – claiming to be from Musk – alongside a QR code.
The tweet said: “Your life will change within minutes if you scan the QR code. That’s not a joke.”
Within just days, the account linked to the scam had made US$28,000 from just 12 victims.
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.
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