During Apple’s ‘Glowtime’ iPhone 16 event on September 9, opportunistic crypto scammers flooded YouTube with deep fake videos of Tim Cook promoting crypto scams. Several X users highlighted the concern, sharing screenshots of scam videos where Cook appeared to endorse crypto giveaways and investment schemes and prompted crypto transactions with QR codes. The videos, now removed, used advanced AI to mimic Cook’s voice and even replicated Apple’s official website design to solicit Bitcoin, Ether, and Tether donations.
People who encounter these videos on YouTube share screen recordings on social media. These deep fakes, specifically timed to capitalize on the Apple event hype, targeted Apple fans looking to stream the iPhone 16 launch. According to a CoinTelegraph report, these videos quickly amassed thousands of views before being taken down.
Critics on X raised alarms about the increasing misuse of AI in creating such deceptive content. YouTube has been criticized for not effectively filtering out scam content, which poses significant financial risks to users. Although YouTube did not issue a specific statement about these incidents, it did respond to one of the scam videos.
This incident underscores a growing trend where crypto scammers use deep fake videos of well-known figures to promote scams. In June, AI-generated videos of Elon Musk on a hacked Australian news channel deceived people into participating in a crypto giveaway. Due to the anonymity and untraceability of crypto transactions, such scams are increasingly prevalent, with the FBI noting a 45% increase in cryptocurrency-related fraud losses last year, totalling over $5.6 billion.
Highlighting broader concerns, Microsoft President Brad Smith identified deep fakes as a major threat posed by AI, advocating for regulated licensing of critical AI applications to ensure security across various domains.
