On September 9, fake livestreams featuring deepfake videos of Apple CEO Tim Cook promoting cryptocurrency scams appeared on YouTube. This wave of deception coincided with Apple’s highly anticipated “Glowtime” event, during which the tech giant showcased its latest generation of iPhones, including the iPhone 16.
AI-Generated Deepfake Scams
The scam streams featured an artificial intelligence-generated version of Cook, who implored viewers to send Bitcoin, Ether, Tether, or Dogecoin to a specified “contribution address.” The deepfake promised that Apple would double any amount sent back to the contributors. “Once you complete your deposit, the system will automatically process it and send back double the amount of the cryptocurrency you deposited,” the AI impersonation stated, luring viewers into a classic “double-your-money” scam. These fraudulent videos cleverly utilized an account made to resemble an official Apple channel, complete with a legitimate verification tick, which likely misled many unsuspecting viewers. Evidence shared on social media platform X indicated that some of these bogus livestreams racked up hundreds of thousands of views.
YouTube Responds
YouTube’s support team responded to the growing alarm by acknowledging the fraudulent content in a post on X, encouraging users to report the deceptive videos through the official reporting tool. Following this, the sham livestreams were quickly removed, and the accounts responsible for the scams have since been shut down.
Growing Concerns
This incident is part of a troubling trend where scammers are becoming increasingly bold, employing deepfake technology to impersonate high-profile individuals. Just a few months earlier, in June, Australian broadcaster Seven had its YouTube news channel hacked by crypto scammers using a deepfake of Elon Musk, who falsely endorsed similar cryptocurrency schemes. Around the same time, numerous deepfake videos of Musk appeared on YouTube, coinciding with the launch of SpaceX’s Starship rocket, enticing users to invest in fraudulent double-your-money schemes. In May, Musk himself proposed a solution to combat deepfake scams, referring to a tweet from Community Notes, a feature in the X app. The feature often warns viewers about fake or misleading information.
The use of deepfakes is becoming an increasingly common tactic for scammers, raising serious concerns about how to protect users from such threats. Technical platforms like YouTube continue to work on improving their protective mechanisms to prevent the spread of fraudulent content.
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