Elon Musk Deepfakes Used to Promote BitVex Crypto Scam

Experts have discovered that scammers are using fake videos featuring Elon Musk and other well-known cryptocurrency advocates to promote the BitVex platform, which steals deposited funds. According to Bleeping Computer, this fraudulent crypto platform claims to be owned by Elon Musk, who supposedly created the site to let anyone earn up to 30% profit on their crypto deposits.

How the BitVex Scam Works

The BitVex promotion campaign began earlier this month. Scammers created new or hijacked existing YouTube accounts to post fake videos featuring Elon Musk, Cathie Wood, Brad Garlinghouse, Michael Saylor, and Charles Hoskinson. Journalists report that dozens of YouTube channels were hacked to push this scam.

In these videos, celebrities appear to give interviews and talk about BitVex, but the footage is actually modified—these are deepfakes, where the person’s voice is faked and overlaid onto video taken from other sources. For example, in one such video, Musk supposedly promotes the scam site and claims to have invested $50 million in the platform.

Obvious Signs of Fraud

Visiting the BitVex website makes it clear to most people that it’s a scam. The site claims Elon Musk is the CEO, and that Cathie Wood from Ark Invest and Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao also support the platform.

Visitors are encouraged to register an account on BitVex (bitvex[.]org or bitvex[.]net) to access the platform. After logging in, users see a dashboard where they can deposit various cryptocurrencies, choose an investment plan, or withdraw funds.

As with other similar scams, the dashboard displays recent withdrawals of different cryptocurrencies to make the site look legitimate. In reality, these numbers are generated using JavaScript, randomly selecting an amount and one of five cryptocurrencies (Cardano, Ethereum, Bitcoin, Ripple, or Binance Coin). Each time the page is refreshed, these “withdrawals” change.

Impact and Warnings

Journalists note that so far, the scam does not appear to be particularly successful, as only about $1,700 has been sent to the scammers’ crypto addresses. However, it’s likely that the addresses on the site rotate, so the criminals may have stolen more funds in total.