Scammers attempted to cash in on the Apple iPhone 14 ‘Far Out’ launch event on Wednesday by streaming a fake live show on YouTube. The bad actors tricked thousands of users with an old interview of Apple CEO Tim Cook making them believe it was live. The fake live iPhone 14 launch video advertised cryptocurrency scams by placing ads that take users to shady crypto websites.
The cryptos advertised on the bogus websites were novice and obscure and mainly lured users to invest in them.
Also Read: Cryptocurrency Firms are a ‘Threat to Banks’: Former Deutsche Bank Executive
The fake live stream ad banners displayed ‘Apple is buying 100,000 Bitcoins’ and Tim Cook is organizing a giveaway of cryptos. The banner lured users to click on it in an attempt to fool them with fake Bitcoin giveaways. The ads consecutively stated that Apple is investing in Bitcoin when in reality it is not.
It is reported that nearly 165,000 users were watching the fake Apple iPhone 14 launch event on YouTube.
Surprisingly, a simple search on YouTube for ‘Apple Event’ showed the fake live stream on the first page. The fraudsters managed to trick YouTube with relevant SEO, keywords, and hashtags, making it appear on the top. The bad actors earned with revenue clicks generated on the fake live stream and also on the bogus crypto website.
Apple & Other Fake Cryptocurrency Live Streams on YouTube
This isn’t the first time that scammers have cheated users with fake live streams on YouTube. Tesla CEO Elon Musk was seen in hundreds of fake live streams as bad actors mend the video sharing platform’s algorithm.
There are several bogus live streams where Musk is seen talking about Dogecoin and Shiba Inu. You can read more details about the Elon Musk fake live stream modus-operandi here.
In tech news, Apple launched the much-awaited iPhone 14, Watch Series 8, and Ear Pods 2. The new features include a larger lens for the rear camera on the iPhone 14 pro compared to the 13 Pro. The new phone also boasts a 48-megapixel camera with upgraded battery life and screen size.