How to avoid falling for scams like the fake "Elon Musk Crypto Giveaway"

What is the fake "Elon Musk Crypto Giveaway"?

Upon examining the page, we found that it hosts a fake cryptocurrency giveaway. The scammers behind this bogus giveaway aim to trick unsuspecting individuals into believing that by participating, they can receive Bitcoin and Ethereum cryptocurrency. However, victims of such scams lose their cryptocurrency and receive nothing in return.

"Elon Musk Crypto Giveaway" scam in detail

This is a fake giveaway claiming to be launched by Elon Musk. It offers to double the amount of Bitcoin (BTC) or Ethereum (ETH) sent to the specified address. The page suggests that Elon Musk supports cryptocurrency and is organizing the giveaway to speed up its mass adoption.

However, this is a common scam tactic where victims are tricked into sending their cryptocurrency to a wallet address belonging to scammers with the false promise of receiving double the amount (or even more) in return. In reality, once the cryptocurrency is transferred to scammers, victims cannot recover their losses.

Once cryptocurrency is sent in a blockchain transaction, it cannot be reversed, so the funds are permanently lost. There are numerous fake giveaways similar to the one described in this article, where scammers promise to double or multiply the amount of cryptocurrency sent. Thus, it is crucial for users to exercise caution and skepticism when encountering such schemes.

It is also important to mention that these fake giveaways often use the names of well-known people (celebrities) or companies to appear legitimate.

Threat Summary:

Name	Fake Elon Musk Crypto Giveaway
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Participants can double the amount sent to the specified crypto wallets
Disguise	Legitimate BTC and ETH giveaway launched by Elon Musk
Related Domains	tesla.crypto-event[.]net, spacexlaunch.pages[.]dev
Scammers' Cryptocurrency Wallets	0xc98ad7b1dc11286358a12dd4cdfe22fd98d97232 (Ethereum), 0xC0b14307F9Ab063FC2E85c4cFe4140A1aB432365 (Ethereum), 1EBXv7JZRQfqBjAFqXsWQ4oA43a9rApjJ4 (Bitcoin), 1TesLactyEsot7VD3DRsw9CdifKjtJMEJ (Bitcoin)
Symptoms	Lack of official verification, impersonation of well-known figures or brands, offers that seem too good to be true.
Distribution methods	Compromised websites, stolen social media profiles, rogue online pop-up ads, unwanted applications.
Damage	Loss of sensitive private information, monetary loss, identity theft, possible malware infections.
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Similar scams in general

Fake cryptocurrency giveaways are a prevalent tactic employed by scammers to steal cryptocurrency from unsuspecting victims. These scams attract victims by offering large profits and often utilize well-known people or brands to appear legitimate, making it important for individuals to be cautious and verify the legitimacy of such offers before providing information or sending digital assets.

Examples of similar scams are "FIFA Crypto Giveaway Scam", "ELON MUSK Twitter Giveaway", and "ARK Invest Crypto Giveaway".

How did I open a scam website?

Scam websites designed to steal cryptocurrency from individuals are commonly promoted through hijacked social media accounts. The stolen accounts typically belong to celebrities or other well-known people or companies. Scammers also use deceptive ads (including notifications from shady sites) and pop-ups to lure users into opening scam pages.

Furthermore, users might land on scam websites through illegal movie streaming pages, torrent sites, and similar web pages that utilize rogue advertising networks. Additionally, ads displayed by untrustworthy adware can be employed to promote scams. Overall, users tend to open sites hosting scams accidentally.

How to avoid visiting scam pages?

Before accessing any page, verify the URL for accuracy (make sure it is the official domain). Exercise caution when websites offer investment opportunities, free cryptocurrency, or similar incentives. Obtain applications (and files) solely from trusted sources, such as official web pages and app stores.

Never consent to receive notifications from suspicious websites or engage with ads, pop-ups, buttons, or similar content on dubious web pages. Avoid interacting with links or files in unsolicited emails from unknown senders. Ensure your operating system and installed apps are kept up to date, and utilize reputable security software for enhanced protection.

If your computer is already infected with unwanted apps, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate them.

The appearance of "Elon Musk Crypto Giveaway" scam (GIF):

Text on this page:

Elon Musk Live Event
Official giveaway  of BTC and ETH from Elon Musk
Elon Musk believes that cryptocurrency will make the world more fair. To speed up the process of cryptocurrency mass adoption, we've decided to run a Bitcoin & Ethereum giveaway

Another example of Elon Musk-themed crypto giveaway campaign:

Bitcoin variant:

Ethereum variant:

Fake Medium article promoting this scam:

Screenshot of a X (Twitter) post promoting this fake Medium article:

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Quick menu:

• What is Fake Elon Musk Crypto Giveaway?
• How to identify a pop-up scam?
• How do pop-up scams work?
• How to remove fake pop-ups?
• How to prevent fake pop-ups?
• What to do if you fell for a pop-up scam?

How to identify a pop-up scam?

Pop-up windows with various fake messages are a common type of lures cybercriminals use. They collect sensitive personal data, trick Internet users into calling fake tech support numbers, subscribe to useless online services, invest in shady cryptocurrency schemes, etc.

While in the majority of cases these pop-ups don't infect users' devices with malware, they can cause direct monetary loss or could result in identity theft.

Cybercriminals strive to create their rogue pop-up windows to look trustworthy, however, scams typically have the following characteristics:

• Spelling mistakes and non-professional images - Closely inspect the information displayed in a pop-up. Spelling mistakes and unprofessional images could be a sign of a scam.
• Sense of urgency - Countdown timer with a couple of minutes on it, asking you to enter your personal information or subscribe to some online service.
• Statements that you won something - If you haven't participated in a lottery, online competition, etc., and you see a pop-up window stating that you won.
• Computer or mobile device scan - A pop-up window that scans your device and informs of detected issues - is undoubtedly a scam; webpages cannot perform such actions.
• Exclusivity - Pop-up windows stating that only you are given secret access to a financial scheme that can quickly make you rich.

Example of a pop-up scam:

How do pop-up scams work?

Cybercriminals and deceptive marketers usually use various advertising networks, search engine poisoning techniques, and shady websites to generate traffic to their pop-ups. Users land on their online lures after clicking on fake download buttons, using a torrent website, or simply clicking on an Internet search engine result.

Based on users' location and device information, they are presented with a scam pop-up. Lures presented in such pop-ups range from get-rich-quick schemes to fake virus scans.

How to remove fake pop-ups?

In most cases, pop-up scams do not infect users' devices with malware. If you encountered a scam pop-up, simply closing it should be enough. In some cases scam, pop-ups may be hard to close; in such cases - close your Internet browser and restart it.

In extremely rare cases, you might need to reset your Internet browser. For this, use our instructions explaining how to reset Internet browser settings.

How to prevent fake pop-ups?

To prevent seeing pop-up scams, you should visit only reputable websites. Torrent, Crack, free online movie streaming, YouTube video download, and other websites of similar reputation commonly redirect Internet users to pop-up scams.

To minimize the risk of encountering pop-up scams, you should keep your Internet browsers up-to-date and use reputable anti-malware application. For this purpose, we recommend Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows.

What to do if you fell for a pop-up scam?

This depends on the type of scam that you fell for. Most commonly, pop-up scams try to trick users into sending money, giving away personal information, or giving access to one's device.

• If you sent money to scammers: You should contact your financial institution and explain that you were scammed. If informed promptly, there's a chance to get your money back.
• If you gave away your personal information: You should change your passwords and enable two-factor authentication in all online services that you use. Visit Federal Trade Commission to report identity theft and get personalized recovery steps.
• If you let scammers connect to your device: You should scan your computer with reputable anti-malware (we recommend Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows) - cyber criminals could have planted trojans, keyloggers, and other malware, don't use your computer until removing possible threats.
• Help other Internet users: report Internet scams to Federal Trade Commission.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What is a fake cryptocurrency giveaway?

A fake cryptocurrency giveaway is a scam where fraudsters promise to multiply the amount of cryptocurrency sent to them but instead steal the funds without providing anything in return. Also, scammers can try to extract seed phrases or other login credentials to drain cryptocurrency wallets.

Is it possible to retrieve lost crypto funds?

Unfortunately, once cryptocurrency funds are lost due to a scam, it is typically not possible to retrieve them.

Why do I encounter crypto scams?

Most users encounter such scams upon opening links in fraudulent emails, clicking misleading ads and pop-ups, visiting torrent sites, illegal movie streaming pages, and similar websites that use rogue advertising networks, or interacting with notifications from unreliable websites.

Will Combo Cleaner protect me from scams?

Combo Cleaner scans every website you visit, able to detect malicious ones, including those hosting scams. Upon detecting such a site, the app displays a warning and blocks access to it.

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