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A report issued by Group-IB, a Singaporean cybersecurity company, has found that the number of cryptocurrency scams that use fake domains has exploded during the first half of 2022. The number of these domains has grown fivefold, and most of these campaigns, though registered with Russian registrars, are designed to reach English and Spanish-speaking crypto investors.
Domains Associated With Crypto Scams Grew Immensely in H1 2022
The number of domains that are used to perpetrate cryptocurrency scams has multiplied during the first half of 2022. According to a report issued by Group-IB, a Singapore-based online security firm, the number of these domains, which are used as welcome pages for Youtube scam streams, has grown fivefold during the first half of this year. More than 2,000 of these domains were registered.
Most of these cryptocurrency scam sites use the names of famous cryptocurrency-linked personalities to attract their victims. Among them is the President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, and famous soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo, alongside other known cryptocurrency supporters like Michael Saylor and Elon Musk.
More than 60% of these domains are registered through Russian companies but are directed to Spanish and English talking communities of cryptocurrency investors, which are their main targets.
Youtube Fake Crypto Stream Market
The growth of this kind of scam is possible due to the existence of an underground market dedicated to selling all the software required to establish a fake Youtube-hosted crypto stream, and the high level of attention that these streams receive. Most of these manage to reach an average of 10,000 to 20,000 viewers, attracted by keywords such as ETH, Ark, Shiba, and XRP among others. About this, Group-IB stated:
Scammers have the following at their disposal: an exchange platform for hacked Youtube accounts, viewer boosting services, manuals, website editors, admin panel developers, domain names, bulletproof hosting, and tools and people who can create deepfake videos.
Deepfakes have become effective tools for hackers that have even managed to create live holograms of exchange employees in order to fool representatives of token teams and collect a fee for a potential listing opportunity.
There are also services for creating these web pages and the art to attract people to invest in these scams. The company recommends users to stay vigilant about too-good-to-be-true crypto giveaways, and always verify that the sources promoting these are official.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Cryptocurrency, deepfakes, domians, fake giveaways, Group-IB, Marketplace, Nayib Bukele, Russia, Scam, scam stream, YouTube
What do you think about the latest explosion in domains promoting cryptocurrency scams? Tell us in the comments section below.
Sergio is a cryptocurrency journalist based in Venezuela. He describes himself as late to the game, entering the cryptosphere when the price rise happened during December 2017. Having a computer engineering background, living in Venezuela, and being impacted by the cryptocurrency boom at a social level, he offers a different point of view about crypto success and how it helps the unbanked and underserved.
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