Tens of hundreds of viewers are watching a faux Apple crypto rip-off on YouTube proper now

Someone on YouTube is at the moment stay streaming an previous interview with Tim Cook that’s seemingly getting used to draw consideration to a crypto rip-off — and tens of hundreds of viewers have tuned in.

If you’ve seen crypto scams on YouTube earlier than, you’ll acknowledge numerous hallmarks of what’s happening right here. The faux stay stream is getting consideration by filling its description with an array of Apple key phrases in each the title and outline. But if you really open it up, it’s crammed with odd messages linking to a shady-looking crypto website.

The stream has loads of indicators of being faux. It has an odd title — “Apple Event Live. Ceo of Apple Tim Cook: Apple & Metaverse in 2022.” — and it’s displaying an previous interview that CNN conducted with Cook in 2018. The streamer added the Bitcoin and Ethereum logos to the video stream, coated the CNN Money emblem with the textual content “Apple Crypto Event 2022,” and added daring textual content studying “URGENT NEWS” on the backside. And in the event you really click on into the channel’s web page (which claims to be “Apple LIVE”), the URL doesn’t have something to do with Apple. That may recommend the channel had a distinct function at one level however was hijacked by unhealthy actors and used to host the stream.

While this bogus stay stream clearly isn’t really from Apple, it’s occurring when a significant highlight is on the corporate. Apple streamed its massive iPhone 14 announcement occasion hours in the past, and CEO Tim Cook is at the moment being interviewed at Vox Media’s Code convention this night. This deceptive stream appears to be an try and trick individuals who could also be conscious that Apple is having a giant day however not know precisely what’s happening.

I came across this stream as a result of it was really useful on my YouTube homepage — which may have been partially as a result of I’ve been watching Apple movies from the occasion all through the day. When I first began watching the faux stream, there have been round 16K viewers, and proper earlier than publishing this story, that rely was practically of 70K.

The Verge additionally discovered a stay stream on a separate (and in addition sketchy) channel claiming it’s “Apple Inc” [sic]. The stream purports to be an occasion that includes Cook and Tesla CEO Elon Musk about Apple and the metaverse, however it’s really repurposing an interview about Bitcoin with Musk and Block chief Jack Dorsey. It’s seen stream numbers attain above 10,000 viewers, and has additionally linked to a sketchy-looking crypto website within the chat.

YouTube didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.