$200k stolen in 12 hours, YouTube crypto giveaway scams are out of control
Today I counted no fewer than 14 individuals doing this (based on unique Ethereum and Bitcoin addresses, address reuse, unique videos, registrar info, and unique domains), stealing roughly $200k in the 12 hours that I surveyed the activity.
https://www.blockchain.com/btc/address/12TaHdqWsEi7n4yCbBL7KzwAvjjTU9q9PY
https://www.blockchain.com/btc/address/1NAfKgJRtn8bUoyVLVX8XFzyrrnsiz3ZzT
https://www.blockchain.com/btc/address/1MrT6yawgNUUuj142rozN69qTAh2Mog3WM (1.85 btc stolen, runner-up, .org btc scammer)
https://etherscan.io/address/0x8CC8724810e6c1B43a5e9a69202e05bebA0CA7A9
https://etherscan.io/address/0x6dDb882a26D90c9eFc5d5bd9b2C7d50892Df250D
https://etherscan.io/address/0xD7d6f273C36593479EfaDF67A13f4e7A41b006C3
https://etherscan.io/address/0x86acdb48ab1babae57ba8fe5c5b0296db25d3457
https://etherscan.io/address/0x55440fE465BfcC41a89f114347f61E65096bd747
https://etherscan.io/address/0xa39C4d4A080a9593C4cF2D000f8f8686ED77AEDf
https://etherscan.io/address/0x9d3bD8fFc5bD6FDe6C2AadE0C32392366172d6ab
https://etherscan.io/address/0x8e86141D4B824Ea3CcFfA54733DB2EeD306a526F
https://etherscan.io/address/0x91553468D0E41621dd38DC852b7F8D9FC0b1353d
https://etherscan.io/address/0x8Add88659Fde12b3d1a6aD8853635a2b49475eCA
https://etherscan.io/address/0xEaCEEC3f479fb0ED94a55457DBd95F9A0Ca81cD2
https://www.blockchain.com/btc/address/1L7H2H49Q8vDNsyZj47QuB7y9wMRQF6Jo
(the legendary .io scammer, domain: https://msnews.io/, stole .25 btc so far today)
https://etherscan.io/address/0x632E1E95Bb03c691C5A9c99Ff64614247754183E (today’s winner: $80k stolen, .org eth scammer)
https://www.blockchain.com/btc/address/bc1qt2rl09ucsym68rjreuyhaw49ecfh3qer7249r6
It adds up to to at least $200k stolen in a 12-hour period.
Some are clearly more successful than others
Note this is just for 12 hours hours, and the videos are up constantly , so one can extrapolate that over a year these scammers stand to seal hundreds of millions of dollars just from YouTube alone, yet nothing is done about it. The videos not uncommonly stay up for 3,4,12+ hours at a time, playing the same clips on a loop and stealing crypto from unsuspecting victims until eventually the videos are deleted or the channel terminated. New videos from an endless supply of hacked channels replace the old ones, like an assembly line.
It’s very lucrative and the perfect crime because of how consistent the pay is, how much it pays, and the lack of any sort of consequence. This week some REvil members were arrested in Russia. I bet they wish they done the giveaway scam instead, because they would not have only made more money but would have not been arrested either. This scam, unlike ransomware, runs under the radar, and makes more money too. It’s not uncommon to see people send 1+ BTC to the Michael Saylor scam...that alone is like a single ransomware payout, but no one goes to the authorities, not that they care anyway.
It’s a disgrace that YouTube refuses to do anything or do more. Twitter has come down hard on giveaway scams on its platform and there is much less there there was 3 months ago, but the problem has gotten worse for YouTube. It used to be maybe 4-5 unique individuals doing this, but now I counted 14, and the amounts stolen are huge. 3-5 eth may not seem like much, but that is $15,000, and over many addresses, videos, hours, etc. It adds up fast. . $500k/day is around $200/million a year, or about 2x the income from the Reevil gang.