Elon Musk Deepfake Scams Crypto Investors: How to Stay Safe

• Elon Musk’s AI deepfake promotes a crypto scam on YouTube Live.
• The video gained 30,000 viewers before it was removed.
• The incident highlights the growing misuse of AI. 

Crypto projects are increasingly finding ways to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to improve what they offer. Whether it’s AI chatbots for education, or trading bots that execute simple strategies, AI has found many applications in crypto. However, not all of these are good. 

Recently, there has been an alarming trend of AI-generated deepfake videos that promote scam tokens. The latest of these, featuring a fake video of Elon Musk , managed to attract tens of thousands of viewers before it was taken down. 

Elon Musk AI-Generated Deepfake Promotes Crypto Scam

As AI-generated content improves, there are increasing concerns about its misuse. On Monday, June 24, a video featuring Elon Musk appeared on YouTube live, promoting a crypto scam . The video used real footage of Elon Musk giving a speech, digitally altered using deepfake tech to make it appear Musk was endorsing a crypto giveaway. 

Deepfakes typically involve respected and influential personalities, to give credence to their claims. However, Elon Musk was not giving away crypto, and the whole giveaway was a scam. Its entire goal was to get crypto investors to connect their wallets to a malicious website. Once connected, the scammers could steal all the funds from the wallets of the unlucky investors. 

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What is concerning is that the video was convincing enough to gain substantial traction, at one point reaching 30,000 viewers. However, multiple viewers flagged the video, resulting in its takedown by YouTube . 

How to Stay Safe from Deepfake Scams

Crypto deepfake scams are running rampant on the Internet and can fool even sophisticated investors. For that reason, it is crucial to know how to spot them. 

• Unnatural Facial Movements: Deepfakes often struggle to mimic natural human expressions. Look for strange mouth movements, blinking patterns, or facial muscle twitches.
• Inconsistent Lighting and Shadows: Check for inconsistencies in lighting and shadows on the face. If the lighting on the face doesn’t match the lighting in the rest of the scene, it might be a deepfake. 
• Audio-Visual Mismatch: Pay attention to the synchronization of audio and visual elements. Discrepancies between lip movements and spoken words can indicate a deepfake.
• Verify the Source: Videos from unknown or unverified sources are more likely to be deepfakes. Be wary of any content that doesn’t come from reputable accounts, websites, and news outlets. 
• Verify the Claims: Deepfakes will feature people like Bill Gates or Warren Buffet promoting memecoins, even though they have often criticized crypto in the past. Just a few minutes of research often exposes fake claims. 
• Always Be Skeptical: A good rule of thumb for staying safe from scams is to always be skeptical of anyone who’s supposedly giving you a deal. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. 
• Use Deepfake Detection Tools: Platforms like Deepware Scanner and others can help analyze videos for signs of manipulation.
• Report Suspicious Content: If you come across a potential deepfake, report it to the platform hosting the content. 

By following these steps you can significantly reduce the risks of falling victim to a deepfake video scam. 

On the Flipside

• Due to his large following, deepfake videos often feature Elon Musk in their scams. 
• Deepfake scams even feature politicians , including the current Prime Minister of Singapore. 

Why This Matters

AI deepfakes are becoming increasingly convincing, making them more dangerous than ever. To protect themselves from risk, investors have to be aware of the tactics these scammers use, and how to spot deepfakes.  

Read more about the dangers of deepfake scams: 
AI Deepfakes: Hoskinson Warns of Impending Threat

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