BTC scammers capitalize on PlayStation 5 reveal

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Digital currency-related scammers reportedly stole over $13,000 in BTC via YouTube by capitalizing on the PlayStation 5 reveal on June 11.

The scammers, operating under a YouTube channel titled ‘PlayStation Live,” streamed a pre-recorded video of the Sony PlayStation 5 reveal event to lure in unsuspecting individuals. The official PlayStation 5 reveal event took place 10 hours before the scammers uploaded their pre-recorded version, but to unsuspecting victims who were eager to see and learn more about Sony’s latest gaming console, it did not make a difference.

The scam

During the stream, the channel admins informed the 100,000 viewers watching the stream that they were conducting a 5,000 BTC giveaway. The scammers even tried to legitimize their scam to some degree, and were able to obtain a BTC wallet address that began with ‘1Sony.’

Through the stream, the scammers informed the stream’s viewers that if they were interested in participating in the giveaway they would “just need to send 0.1 BTC to 20 BTC to the contribution address and we will immediately send you back 0.2 BTC to 40 BTC to the address you sent it from.”

By the time the stream was removed from YouTube for “violating YouTube’s Community Guidelines,” the scammers had received 1.4 BTC in their wallet. 

Of course, if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is too good to be true. None of the participants received the BTC they were promised.

Digital currency scams on the rise

Recent reports from government agencies and blockchain analytics firms indicate that digital currency-related scams are on the rise. Some reports claim that scammers and cyber-criminals are trying to capitalize on unsuspecting victims at this point in time due to coronavirus.

The reports note that a majority of the world is getting more screen-time than usual since the pandemic is preventing them from doing activities that they would otherwise be doing, which makes the internet the perfect attack vector for scam and fraud. 

As always, do your own research into any offer or opportunity that is presented to you. And remember, if it sounds too good to be true, or the offer comes with only upside and no risk, then it is probably too good to be true and most likely a scam.