Scam bots are gaining ground on YouTube, and the number of dubious videos has increased sixfold by 2022, according to a new report from blockchain security firm CertiK.
In the December 1 report, CertiK explores how a wave of top-of-the-line bot scams are promising free returns of up to 10 times a day, but ultimately end up stealing people’s funds.
In particular, the CertiK analysis found that 84% of videos on YouTube mentioning “front running bot” were scams, and the number increased 500% from 28 videos in 2021 to 168 videos in 2022:
“There are common themes in all of these videos: free code and huge profits. Successful brokers won’t give away a free code on a social networking site; they will sell it for a large amount on underground forums.”
The scam itself often involves guiding victims to download fake bot software, designed to steal their assets. once they try to start a front-running transaction.
Even when it’s not scams, Front-running bots cause problems, as they can give the deployer a distinct advantage over other cryptocurrency traders in certain circumstances.
Bots often scan blockchains for unconfirmed transactions and then pay a higher gas rate to preempt those transactions, “essentially getting ahead of them and taking all the profit on offer” from a trade.
The report identified videos with dubious titles such as “$15,000 Front Running Cryptobot! HUGE 50X EARNINGS” and “Uniswap Front Running Bot 2022 – EASY TUTORIAL (Huge Earnings)” where scammers give fake tutorials on downloading and using the bots.
Of course, Video comment sections are littered with countless comments from bots praising the content, so the actual comments that set off alarm bells get buried under the noise.
Scam reports have been plentiful lately; Cointelegraph reported on Nov. 22 that deepfake videos featuring the likeness of Sam Bankman-Fried were circulating online with the aim of misleading people affected by the FTX bankruptcy.
CertiK published a separate report on Nov. 17 outlining that cryptocurrency scammers have been using identities purchased on the black market to put their names and faces on fraudulent projects. Described as “professional KYC actors,” CertiK found that their identities could be purchased for as little as $8.
On Reddit, on December 1st, members of the r/Metallica community also sent out warnings about fake Metallica live streams that were linked to cryptocurrency scams.
Some members even claimed that the YouTube algorithm had been recommending the videos to them in their recommendations.
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