Google-owned video sharing website YouTube has recently inadvertently promoted an illegitimate version of the popular Electrum bitcoin wallet, as a scammer was seemingly trying to separate users from their BTC.
A Redditor managed to connect an advertisement that seemingly promoted the real Electrum wallet to the illegitimate version. The user, mrsxeplatypus, noted the ad even told users to go to Electrum’s website.
It even tells you to go to the correct link (electrum.org) in the video but when you click on the advertisement it immediately starts downloading the malicious EXE file.
Clicking on the ad would, however, redirect users to elecktrum.org (not electrum.org) and start downloading a malicious file. The scam, as The Next Web notes, uses a popular method called typosquatting, that sees malicious actors slightly alter the name of a legitimate website.
The news outlet reportedly reached out to Google, which responded that its teams have “taken appropriate action against the ad you reported.” This is notably not the first time YouTube helps promote scams to cryptocurrency investors.
As covered, a BitConnect class action lawsuit added the tech giant as a defendant last year over its “negligent” behavior. YouTube allowed BitConnect promoters to freely promote the scam on the platform and reach out to thousands of investors through it.
BitConnect notably collapsed in January of 2018, after receiving cease and desist orders from regulators in the US. The FBI has been looking for potential victims to assist in its investigation into the scheme.
Electrum itself has been attacked by hackers in the past. A phishing attack that saw hackers trick users into downloading a malicious version of the wallet managed to net them over 200 BTC, at the time worth over $730,000.
