Cryptocurrency criminals are lurking on Youtube
Cryptocurrency criminals are lurking on YouTube, a recent lawsuit filed by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak claims.
Most of the schemes involve scams that purport to be giving bitcoins away but in fact are designed to steal the virtual money, along with other types of cryptocurrency, from users of the popular streaming video site.
A July study by analytics firm Whale Alert found that YouTube users had lost $24 million in bitcoin and related scams in the first six months of 2020. That’s up from $14 million over the prior three and a half years combined. Crypto Scams are reaching new heights this year.
YouTube told CBS MoneyWatch it removed 2.3 million videos and closed 1.7 million accounts in the first three months of the year in connection with bitcoin scams and other deceptive practices on its platform. YouTube did not confirm how many of those scams included cryptocurrencies, but the spokesperson denied that bitcoin-related fraud is a major problem for the site.
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