Deepfake videos of Elon Musk are increasingly being used on YouTube to perpetrate crypto scams. In a recent incident, a live stream using a deepfake of Elon Musk lasted for five hours, attempting to dupe viewers into sending cryptocurrency to a fraudulent website.
Increase in Crypto Scams Using Elon Musk Deepfakes
Today, for five hours, a YouTube broadcast exploited a deepfake of Elon Musk to facilitate a cryptocurrency scam. The video featured a clip made to look like a live broadcast from a Tesla event, complete with an AI-generated voice of Musk instructing viewers to deposit cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Dogecoin. The message promised that any cryptocurrency sent would be doubled and returned—a classic scam tactic. At one point, the stream had over 30,000 viewers (though these numbers could be inflated by bots), pushing the broadcast to the top of YouTube’s Live Now recommendations. The account, appearing as Tesla under the handle @elon.teslastream, even displayed an Official Artist Channel verification badge, suggesting a possible account hack. Both the video and channel were later removed.
Recent Surge in Elon Musk Deepfake Scams
In recent months, there has been a surge in these Elon Musk deepfake scams, each time using an account mimicking one of Musk’s companies. The title of this stream was “Tesla’s Masterpiece: Changing the Car Industry Forever.” Earlier in June, during a Starship launch, similar scams were conducted by 35 accounts claiming to be SpaceX. In April, scammers utilized the same tactics to capitalize on eclipse excitement.
Crypto scams have long targeted Musk’s followers on social media, and celebrity-involved scams are prevalent in general. Just last Friday, 50 Cent’s accounts were hacked.
Security Concerns for Social Media Platforms
Elon Musk deepfake videos and similar scams continue to pose significant security challenges for social media platforms. It is essential to stay vigilant against such scams and always verify information through official sources. YouTube and other platforms must implement stricter measures to detect and prevent such malicious content.
