In the latest example of Elon Musk's (opens in a new tab) identity being misused in cryptocurrency scams, a threat actor is targeting the eccentric billionaire's new Twitter followers, security experts have warned.
As reported by BleepingComputer, a scammer created an unnamed Twitter account and placed the company logo on the profile picture to create a false sense of legitimacy. They then began monitoring Elon Musk's Twitter account for new followers and added them to a list called "Deal of the Year."
When opening the list (which is public and visible to everyone), victims are shown a fake tweet from Elon Musk in which he invites his new subscribers to a cryptocurrency raffle.
fake gift
“I have decided to randomly pick 1000 new followers who can enter the biggest cryptocurrency giveaway,” the tweet reads, and at the very least, coupled with the obvious grammatical errors should be enough of a red flag.
The tweet also shares a link: Freedomgiveaway.net, where victims must go to answer a short questionnaire to participate in the "giveaway." The quiz is mostly known to the public, but it doesn't matter if you answer correctly or not.
As soon as you're done, the site will ask for your cryptocurrency address and promise to send 5000 BTC to the lucky winners (about €84 million at press time). But before they can be credited with the fancy crypto, they must first deposit a small amount to “Elon's” address, between 0,02 and 1 BTC.
The website also lists many fake reviews praising the campaign, to make it more credible and try to fool as many gullible investors as possible.
The address where victims should deposit money can be found at this link (opens in a new tab) and luckily, it seems that Elon Musk's supporters are not so naive: the wallet is empty and has seen no interactions so far. Let's hope it stays that way.
Via: BleepingComputer (Opens in a new tab)