How to recognize scams like the fraudulent "X Crypto Giveaway"

What is the fake "X Crypto Giveaway"?

During our analysis, we concluded that this is one of the fake crypto giveaways where fraudsters impersonate famous personalities to trick people into sending cryptocurrency. This scam also involves a deepfake. This and similar web pages should be ignored and closed if ever encountered to avoid monetary loss and other negative outcomes.

"X Crypto Giveaway" scam overview

This "X Crypto Giveaway" is a typical scam where fraudsters use Elon Musk's name to lure victims into sending cryptocurrency in exchange for larger rewards. The scam promises a $20,000,000 giveaway with up to 60 BTC or 300 ETH as the maximum amount participants can supposedly receive.

Moreover, users are told they can only participate once, and they must first send cryptocurrency to an address in order to be eligible for the reward. However, the real goal is to steal funds from those who participate. Moreover, this fake giveaway involves a deepfake. A deepfake is a type of media created using artificial intelligence to generate realistic images, videos, or audio.

In this scam, a deepfake of Elon Musk is used to convince victims that the crypto giveaway is legitimate. Overall, this scheme is fraudulent, and users should never send cryptocurrency or take other actions to avoid losing their funds.

Threat Summary:

Name	Fake X Crypto Giveaway
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Participants can double the amount they send
Disguise	Legitimate cryptocurrency giveaway
BTC Wallet	1DZaLz9ytR5TYTEbfadMRSzy2FyfSLzGsg
ETH Wallet	0x38A48aC83f5F9dC1A26Ef72AfEaEBB0EEFe3d199
Related Domain	muskgreat[.]com
Detection Names	Yandex Safebrowsing (Phishing), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal)
Symptoms	Unofficial domain, lack of official verification, unrealistic claims, too good-to-be-true promises.
Distribution methods	Deepfake videos, compromised websites, misleading notifications, deceptive online pop-up ads, unwanted applications.
Damage	Loss of sensitive private information, monetary loss, identity theft, possible malware infections.
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Conclusion

In conclusion, this scam involves fraudsters using a celebrity’s name, a deepfake video, and false promises to lure victims into sending cryptocurrency for a non-existent reward. The video contains Elon Musk talking about the supposed giveaway he will do. Other videos of similar kind may be used as well.

It is essential to stay cautious and avoid any offers that ask for payment upfront or seem too good to be true. Users should always verify any giveaway before engaging to protect their funds.

Examples of similar scams "Tether Giveaway Scam", "Solana Giveaway Scam", and "Elon Musk X Donald Trump Crypto Giveaway Scam".

How did I open a scam website?

Scammers promote fraudulent websites using various methods. They may send deceptive emails with links or attachments, use fake or hijacked (or fake) social media accounts, or use misleading ads on unreliable pages. Scam sites can also be promoted via push notifications from dubious sites or adware-generated pop-ups.

Additionally, rogue advertising networks (often used by torrent sites, illegal streaming websites, and similar pages) are used to promote scam websites. The fake X Crypto Giveaway is promoted using deepfake videos on X (Twitter). Overall, users tend to open scam sites unintentionally.

How to avoid visiting scam pages?

Stick to reputable search engines like Google when browsing. Do not permit suspicious web pages to show notifications. Avoid interacting with pop-ups, ads, and links encountered on questionable sites. Do not open links or attachments in unexpected and (or) irrelevant emails from unknown addresses.

Always download software and files from trusted sources, such as official sites or app stores. Use a dependable security tool and keep it (and other apps and the operating system) up to date. 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 "X Crypto Giveaway" scam website (GIF):

Text in the fraudulent site:

$95423.92 -3.48%

$2627.60 -14.35%

X Crypto Giveaway
Good Luck Everyone!
A great opportunity to grow your capital!

The giveaway? It's our way to say: "Thank you!".

Elon Musk
The founder of this event and one of the main sponsors of the event

$20,000,000
Allocated for the giveaway

60 BTC / 300 ETH
Max amount that we can get on your crypto wallet after participating in this event

Terms of participation
Important: you can only participate ONCE!

A deepfake video used to promote this scam:

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Quick menu:

• What is Fake X 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 crypto giveaway?

A fake crypto giveaway is a scam where fraudsters offer to receive cryptocurrency for free (or a small payment). These scams usually involve deceptive websites, fake videos, or social media posts.

What is the purpose of a fake cryptocurrency giveaway?

In most cases, scammers use these schemes to steal cryptocurrency and (or) information from victims.

Why do I encounter scam websites?

Scammers promote scams using deceptive emails, fake or hijacked social media accounts, misleading ads, fraudulent notifications, rogue advertising networks, deepfake videos, and similar methods to promote their scams. In most cases, users encounter scams by clicking misleading links or visiting unreliable websites.

Will Combo Cleaner protect me from scam websites?

Combo Cleaner scans websites visited by users to identify and block harmful sites, including pages running scams. It offers protection by alerting users and preventing access to these untrustworthy sites.

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