It’s the 8th of April 2024, and the talk of the town revolves around today’s thermal eclipse. The buzz about this event is widespread, with news reports, social media updates, and captivating photos and videos circulating across the internet.
Upon visiting YouTube, one can observe numerous live streams of the solar eclipse garnering hundreds of thousands of views simultaneously. However, not all of the most popular live streams are authentic.
A deceptive YouTube video falsely claiming to be from SpaceX during the renewable eclipse has surfaced. Credit: Snapshot from Mashable
YouTube is currently inundated with counterfeit live streams purportedly from SpaceX programs featuring fabricated statements attributed to Elon Musk. The primary aim of these deceptive streams is to swindle unsuspecting individuals of their cryptocurrency.
Mysk, an iOS developer and research team, uncovered these fraudulent streams and shared their findings with Mashable.
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Unveiling the Musk Supermoon Crypto Scam
Each of these fraudulent streams follows a similar pattern. A prerecorded video shows Elon Musk addressing an audience with a SpaceX backdrop. Additionally, an AI-generated fake Musk voice promotes a dubious cryptocurrency investment opportunity promising significant returns.
A QR code with the message “Eclipse of 2024-Change your life” is overlaid on the video, urging viewers to scan the code. This code redirects individuals to a website where they are encouraged to “invest” their bitcoins in the supposed lucrative opportunity.
A fraudulent website mimicking SpaceX for a bitcoin scam. Credit: Image from Mashable
In some streams, the fake Elon Musk impersonator interacts with viewers, claiming they have already profited. The imposter Musk also shares links in the chat, purportedly directing users to further investment options.
One of the fraudulent SpaceX streams was titled “2024 Total Solar Eclipse: Through the Sight of SpaceX” and managed to attract over 210,000 concurrent views at one point.
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Another video, titled “Live: Solar Eclipse Spectacular 2024 of SpaceX,” garnered tens of thousands of views concurrently and peaked at nearly 100,000 viewers.
Many of these channels boast hours of live streaming content and have amassed tens of thousands of subscribers.
While fake SpaceX and Elon Musk videos are not new to YouTube, the recent surge indicates scammers find them lucrative. Notably, Steve Wozniak previously sued YouTube over similar videos featuring his impersonation to promote Bitcoin scams.
A fraudulent SpaceX channel referencing the original channel name prior to the scam. Credit: Snapshot from Mashable
The scammers often hijack channels with substantial viewership. To appear legitimate before broadcasting their fraudulent content, they rebrand the channel with the SpaceX name. However, remnants of the channel’s original identity are still visible on the platform, indicating a recent name change.
Scammers frequently leverage images of Musk and SpaceX obtained from illicit sources or the dark web to enhance their credibility and reach a wider audience. Content related to Musk and SpaceX typically garners significant attention on YouTube.
While YouTube has taken down some of these streams, indicating awareness of the issue, several counterfeit SpaceX eclipse streams persist.
The exact viewership numbers of these deceptive videos remain unclear, but it is evident that millions of viewers have been exposed to them during the thermal supermoon event.
