Cryptocurrency scammers took control of Indian YouTuber and influencer Ranveer Allahbadia’s channels to promote a fraud that promised up to 200% returns on crypto investments.
On Sept. 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 livestream an AI-altered video of Elon Musk urging viewers to invest in a ‘double your crypto’ scam.
His first channel, BeerBiceps, boasts over 7.8 million subscribers, along with his personal channel, Ranveer Allahbadia, with more than 9.4 million followers, and a third channel featuring podcast clips with an audience of 1.2 million, were all hacked and rebranded to mimic Tesla, Elon Musk’s renowned automotive and clean energy company.
The hackers replaced the channels’ logos and handles and deleted all previous content to appear as official Tesla platforms, aiming to deceive viewers with fake cryptocurrency giveaways and fraudulent live streams featuring Musk’s likeness.
In the past, crypto scammers have long impersonated Musk and his companies, like SpaceX, to defraud unsuspecting crypto enthusiasts.
In this instance, however, the thumbnail also featured United States Vice President Kamala Harris and Former President Donald Trump, alongside Musk, possibly in a bid to cash in on the hype around the 2024 elections, where cryptocurrencies have become a major topic.
At press time, the videos had been taken down but reports from several viewers on X show that one of the streams had over 149,000 tuned in at one point.
Like previous instances, the live streams featured a QR code which, when scanned, redirects users to a fake website branded as Tesla, featuring a $100 million giveaway.
Users were also greeted with an automated chatbot that described the dubious giveaway as an official event backed by Musk and Trump to “popularize cryptocurrency.”
The site featured wallet addresses for Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), and Dogecoin (DOGE) and promised to return double the amount of the respective cryptocurrency sent to these wallets. To make things seem legitimate, a fake transaction history was also featured, and it was automatically updated to make it look like people were actually transferring their funds.
A similar website was promoted through fake channels during Apple’s “Glowtime” event on Sept. 9. Bad actors used these fraudulent channels to mimic the official event, impersonating Apple and CEO Tim Cook.
At press time, the number of people affected by the scam remains unclear. Still, 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 has not yet made an official statement regarding the incident.
The incident marked the second attack on a prominent Indian YouTube channel, coming less than a week after the Supreme Court of India’s official YouTube channel was used to advertise phishing links and a scam featuring Ripple’s execs and the XRP token.
