A sophisticated online passive income scam was recently discovered using fake YouTube ads, which promised people the ability to generate substantial earnings without having to actively work, through the use of cryptocurrencies and the popular artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT.
These advertisements employed actors recruited through Fiverr, an Israeli online marketplace for freelance services, and They claimed to have developed a “swipe bot” which supposedly uses the power of the AI model developed by OpenAI, to generate money without the need for programming knowledge.
However, Promises of profit turned into losses once users began to follow the instructions of cybercriminals and ended up transferring their digital assets to scammers. As reported by the specialized portal Gizmodo, it was a modality that affected numerous people.
To carry out this scam, criminals are responsible for creating an illusion of legitimacy by hiring actors to narrate their scripts, which gives a human face to the trap without revealing the identities of those truly responsible.
While The tactic for disseminating these ads includes omission from search listings and their appearance as paid advertisements, making the videos less exposed to public scrutiny and more exposed to potential victims.
The videos maintain a consistent pattern, initially warning about fraud within the crypto community and then directing viewers to run code that would supposedly allow them to profit from fraudulent crypto transactions.
One of the affected actors, Scott Panfil, recounted his negative experience andhighlighted the constant challenge of requesting YouTube to remove fraudulent videos that use your image. Furthermore, Fiverr has taken action by blocking the accounts involved in this fraud and has promised compensation to Panfil.
YouTube has reported that is taking measures to address this problemhaving already canceled six channels involved and reviewing the ads to ensure they comply with its policies.
But it is important to highlight that The comments on these videos are usually overwhelmingly positive., possibly manipulated to add an extra layer of credibility to the scam. In fact, this makes them much more difficult to identify.
This situation highlights the importance of exercise caution when faced with promises of easy profits and to thoroughly investigate any offer that seems too good to be true.
This is a type of scam that often It is presented as a unique investment opportunity or a secret business model, which offers large profits without the need to do active work. Although it can present itself in various forms, such as:
- Pyramid schemes: Here investors are asked to pay to join and the only way to recover their investment, or earn more, is by recruiting more people to the scheme. The promised benefits come directly from contributions of new income, and the system collapses when no more participants can be recruited.
- High Yield Investment Programs (HYIP): They offer unrealistically high rates of return for short-term investments. They are unsustainable in the long term and often use money from new investors to pay off previous investors, creating an artificial flow of ‘passive income’ until the scheme collapses.
- Fake cryptocurrencies and trading platforms: Investment platforms are promoted that supposedly generate passive profits by trading cryptocurrencies or other financial assets, but in reality they are fraudulent. They can request an initial deposit and show fictitious profits to encourage further investments, which disappear when the user tries to withdraw the funds.
- Illegitimate multi-level marketing (MLM) programs: Although there are legitimate MLMs, some passive income scams disguise themselves as MLM opportunities, focusing more on recruiting members and charging for starter kits or memberships than on actually selling products or services.
To protect yourself from these scams, it’s important to remember that all investments carry risks and that legitimate passive income typically requires an initial investment of money, time, or both.
