WARNING: There is an active and elaborate cryptocurrency scammer purchasing existing YouTube accounts, repurposing these channels for a FAKE Cryptocurrency "GIVEAWAY" and promoting them via YouTube Live Streams... TLDR: Immediately Report these to YouTube if you see them!Why is this so important?This user has already been successful in raking in millions of dollars worth of people's ETH & BTC! It is up to YOU to help stop this bastard as they continue to remain anonymous and are able to multiply their procedure for every single victim who falls for the scam. An upvote on this post would be appreciated to help get the word out.
What is this scammer's procedure?- Purchases YouTube accounts on shady sites such as PlayerUp & FameSwap with Crypto
- Purchases Domains from Registrars such as REG.RU, Registrar.eu & NIC.RU with Crypto
- Repurposes Channels to imitate official Ethereum channels, Vitalik Buterin, Charles Hoskinson
- Starts a Live video streaming Irrelevant content so they are able to accumulate the purchase of Fake Likes & Fake Watchers, upping their reputation score in YouTube's algorithm. This Irrelevant content could be anything: puppies, kittens, bloggers, video games, etc.
- After video reaches a reputable rank, they begin to stream the FAKE Crypto Giveaway until YouTube receives enough Reports to terminate the channel... then it's rinse & repeat.
They stream various Vitalik Buterin / Charles Hoskinson interviews from the past, show a fake tweet from their Official Twitters about a Giveaway (either TODAY ONLY or for a special event), and instruct people to Double their crypto by sending it to a Deposit Address they list on the websites that they Refresh every hour or so... e.g. send 2 ETH, get 4 ETH back... send 10 ETH, get 20 ETH back... etc.
Examples of these Live Stream "Giveaways" (could a mod please embed these? Sorry I'm having issues)https://i.imgur.com/FiMTPWB.jpghttps://i.imgur.com/vOBNSWA.jpghttps://i.imgur.com/pcUMKiw.jpghttps://i.imgur.com/3JMYqJv.jpghttps://i.imgur.com/veQbGpP.jpgThere is a clear pattern to the choice of Video Title (so far)- Usually starts by authoring a quote, e.g. "Vitalik Buterin:" or "Charles Hoskinson:"
- ETH usually proceeds with "We Expect $X per Ethereum in the end of 2021!"
- ADA usually proceeds with "We Expect $X per Cardano in the end of 2021!"
- This $X amount varies amongst every video-- likely how they keep them organized
Examples:- "Vitalik Buterin: We Expect $9500 per Ethereum in the end of 2021! BTC/ETH NEWS and PRICE ETHEREUM"
- "Charles Hoskinson: We Expect $150 per Cardano in the end of 2021! Cardano big update!"
How to Find & Report current scam streams 24/7Search in quotes the author name or phrases along with a "LIVE" filter, e.g.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=vitalik+buterin&sp=EgJAAQ%253D%253Dhttps://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=charles+hoskinson&sp=EgJAAQ%253D%253Dhttps://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%22we+expect%22&sp=EgJAAQ%253D%253Dhttps://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%22in+the+end+of+2021%22&sp=EgJAAQ%253D%253DUpdated List (8/27/21) of Domains I have already reported to YouTube, Domain Registrar Abuse Contact and Hosting Providers (via Who-Is Database):ETH/BTC:londonfork.net
eventbyether.org
vitaliketh.com
eventeth2021.com
event2021eth.com
eth-io.info
hardforklondon.com
etherevnt.com
ethcorp.org
ethercorp.us
2021-buterin.online
eth-promotion.net
londonethereum.io
eventeth.live
eth-update.org
buterin-news.com
cryptotakepart.com
space-take.com
corpeth.org
etherevent.live
ethereum2023.com
ADA:adatoday.cc
cardanolive2021.com
livecardano.org
ceocardano.pro
ceo-ada.info
ceo-cardano.info
cardano-ada.io
all-cardano.com
drop-ada.info
hoskinson-2021.org
invest-ada.org
cardano-corp.com
HEX:bonushex.com
THIS IS A CALL TO ACTION!YouTube is usually very slow to take the accounts down, so the more people reporting... the better!
Please help out and keep this scammer from succeeding any further! If you notice them using any other domains not listed above, post those here so we can report them to the Registrar abuse contact.
Why am I personally spending so much time trying to stop this scammer?This is the most embarrassing, and frustrating part... I am among the hundreds of victims who were taken by surprise by how well this was orchestrated and believed it... it all looked so good: the number of subscribers on the YouTube channel were over 500k, the Like/Dislike ratio was about 3000:30, it was Promoted by YouTube at the very top of my right sidebar... Once on the website, I was rushed by the FOMO of the progress meter and display of Fake Live transactions. But upon clicking Send, I knew almost immediately that I had just fallen for one of the most elaborate scams, but it was too late and I had just sent this mother#^##&$ 2 ETH.
Worst mistake of my life and I honestly haven't been able to sleep since, and the little I do get has produced nothing but nightmares. If this scammer actually understood what kind of impact this actually has on people's lives, I think they might think twice... Maybe. All I know is they definitely didn't realize that I wanted this ETH to help support my 12-year-old brother's cancer treatment who is currently in the hospital undergoing radiation therapy. I feel like I failed him but will continue to do everything I can to stop this scammer.
I don't want anyone else dealing with the same situation but it's quite clear this is going to continue without the help of the community. I sent my ETH transaction on
August 10th, so it's been over two weeks already and it appears their scam efforts are only growing stronger. I contacted Coinbase but there was obviously nothing they could do. As an aside, I do not expect anything but if anyone has some love to share, my ETH deposit address is 0x8825b7fe6d43a44E633Cfa70585EF1e72e6bF21a
I will continue to do everything in my power to stop this scammer and will update the table above on a regular/daily basis. Please report any other domains you see this scammer using here &/or their appropriate registrar Abuse contacts listed on a Who-Is lookup, e.g.
https://whois.domaintools.comTogether, I pray that we can stop this scammer. Good luck everyone and stay safe!
