This isn’t the first time that YouTube has been used to lure unsuspecting victims into crypto scams.
YouTube’s issues with shaking off crypto scams haven’t gone away.
Gemini, founded by the Winklevoss twins, has revealed that two accounts on the video-sharing site have been taken over by a hacker.
The crypto exchange’s brand name and logo were used on the hijacked profiles to make it seem like they were official Gemini accounts. In a statement on Twitter, Gemini added:
“These scam accounts are not our company. We have reported these accounts to YouTube.”
Why This News Matters
This isn’t the first time that the Google-owned platform has been used to lure unsuspecting victims into crypto scams.
Ripple has actually taken YouTube to court over the issue — accusing the tech giant of failing to do enough to protect users from “giveaway” scams where people are deceived into sending money to fraudsters.
According to the blockchain company, accounts masquerading as official profiles have swindled victims out of XRP that’s worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. As part of the scam, they’re told that they’ll be given a generous amount of crypto if they send a set amount of XRP to a particular address. At the time, Ripple said:
“For every scam, giveaway, fake conspiracy that is taken down, multiple more pop up nearly immediately. YouTube and other big technology and social media platforms must be held accountable for not implementing sufficient processes for fighting these scams.”
YouTube has been seeking for that lawsuit to be dismissed, arguing that, under U.S. law, it isn’t a publisher of third-party content and can’t be liable for what people post.
Check Out Our Newsletter!
Why go out searching for crypto news when we can come to you? By subscribing to our daily newsletter, we’ll email you all the top headlines five days a week.
