Elon musk bitcoin giveaway

5000 BTC Giveaway Scam: Chamath Palihapitiya, Elon Musk Not Giving Away Bitcoin

The number of bitcoin giveaway scams has been increasing rapidly amid rising prices of cryptocurrencies and deepening economic crisis worldwide. These scams claim that famous people are giving away bitcoin, such as Virgin Galactic Chairman Chamath Palihapitiya, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, and U.S. presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg.

Bitcoin Giveaway Scams on the Rise

Bitcoin giveaway scams claiming that celebrities are giving away bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies are on the rise as unemployment grows during the coronavirus pandemic and resulting economic crises. Videos featuring live interviews with Virgin Galactic Chairman Chamath Palihapitiya and a “5000 BTC Giveaway” have been regularly appearing on Youtube. The videos explain:

To participate you just need to send 0.1 BTC to 20 BTC to the contribution address and we will immediately send you back 0.2 BTC to 40 BTC to the address you sent it from.

The videos elaborate that the more bitcoin you send, the more bitcoin you will get back, emphasizing that “You can participate only once.” For example, the scammers claim that if you send 20 bitcoins, you will get 40 bitcoins back.

A screenshot of a Youtube video featuring an interview with Virgin Galactic Chairman Chamath Palihapitiya and a 5000 BTC giveaway scam. The interview was actually a replay of the Coinsummit interview of Palihapitiya which took place several years ago.

Each video displays a bitcoin address and an URL of a website containing additional information. “We believe that blockchain and bitcoin will make the world more fair and open. The current financial system is outdated,” the scam website notes, claiming:

To speed up the process of cryptocurrency mass adoption, we have committed to a total of 5,000 bitcoin to give away.

The website also has information on a “special bonus,” which states that “If you send 5+ BTC you will be airdropped 10+ BTC back + 50% bonus.”

Youtube has banned a number of these scam videos but they still keep reappearing regularly. At the time of this writing, at least four 5000 BTC giveaway scam videos featuring Palihapitiya are listed on the Google-owned video-sharing platform.

List of live streaming videos on Youtube claiming that Virgin Galactic Chairman Chamath Palihapitiya is giving away a total of 5,000 bitcoins. However, this is a scam and anyone sending any bitcoin to the addresses displayed on the videos will never receive anything in return.

Other than famous billionaire investors like Chamath Palihapitiya, celebrities and politicians have also been targeted by cryptocurrency giveaway scams. Last week, there was a similar bitcoin giveaway scam that featured former U.S. presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg. The billionaire media executive and former mayor of New York City dropped out of the race to become the president of the United States on March 4. The fake Michael Bloomberg bitcoin giveaway video asked viewers to transfer between 0.1 BTC and 250 BTC to the bitcoin address displayed on the screen. Cryptocurrency exchanges and their CEOs have also been targeted, such as Coinbase and its CEO, Brian Armstrong.

Scam Websites Claim Elon Musk Giving Away Bitcoin and Ethereum

Another popular person often featured by bitcoin scammers is Tesla CEO Elon Musk. A website mimicking the Medium publishing platform keeps appearing under different URLs. It claims to be the official Elon Musk BTC and ETH giveaway website. Scammers promote the giveaway on various social media platforms, such as Twitter and Reddit. After a certain period of time, the same site will relocate to a different URL and the previous domain name will no longer be reachable.

This website claims to be the official Elon Musk BTC and ETH giveaway website, but it is a scam as the Tesla CEO is not giving away bitcoin.

“Our marketing department here at Tesla HQ came up with an idea: to hold a special giveaway event for all crypto fans out there … If you want to participate, it is really simple to do,” the scammers wrote. “If you send in 5 BTC or 100 ETH, you will get the grand prize: a brand new Tesla Model S Performance with midnight silver metallic, solid black and red multi-coat exterior, delivery included. DM me on Twitter if you did that and we will organize the delivery as soon as possible.” The website also provides two “official” links for visitors to get “free” bitcoin and ethereum.

Giveaways in bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies like the ones featured above are scams. Billionaire investors like Palihapitiya often say good things about bitcoin, including advising people to have 1% of their assets in the cryptocurrency. Musk recently told Harry Potter author JK Rowling that bitcoin is “solid” compared to governments’ fiat money. However, none of them are giving away any bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. Be wary of anyone promising to double any bitcoin you send them as this setup is always a scam.

What do you think about bitcoin giveaway scams? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Spacex Bitcoin Scam Features BTC Giveaway, Elon Musk, and NASA Launch

A Spacex bitcoin scam has frequently appeared on Youtube, claiming to give away BTC. Its promo video features the recent Spacex launch with two NASA astronauts and an interview with Spacex and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. The scammers claim that anyone sending bitcoin to them will be “airdropped” twice the amount sent.

Spacex Bitcoin Scam: Elon Musk’s BTC Giveaway

A bitcoin scam claiming that Spacex and its CEO, Elon Musk, are giving away bitcoin has been growing more common. Videos advertising that Spacex and Musk are giving away 5,000 BTC have repeatedly appeared on Youtube, featuring Spacex’s May 30 launch in collaboration with NASA and other projects. The historic launch marked the first human space mission from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, since the end of the space shuttle program in 2011.

The Spacex Youtube bitcoin scam video shows a live interview with CEO Elon Musk about the recent Spacex launch. An URL and a bitcoin address are displayed on the video for people to send their coins to participate or learn more about the BTC giveaway.

A scam featuring Spacex and CEO Elon Musk giving away 5,000 BTC asks people to send them bitcoin first and they claim twice the amount sent will be returned immediately. But, if in doubt, the scammers say send them more BTC — just in case.

The URL on the video redirects to a webpage, entitled “Spacex Foundation 5,000 Bitcoin Giveaway Airdrop.” The site states: “At a time of such global crisis, Spacex is here to offer all the help that we can. We understand the financial uncertainty that some people may be facing right now, and have decided to giveaway 5,000 bitcoin, in our best attempts to help out.”

To participate, you need to send any amount of bitcoin between 0.1 BTC and 20 BTC to the bitcoin address provided, which the scammers call the “official contribution address for this event.” The fake Spacex bitcoin website continues, “once we have received your transaction, we will immediately send back (2x) to the address that you sent the bitcoin from.” That means “if you send 5 BTC, you will be airdropped 10 BTC + 25% bonus,” the scammers wrote.

Scam videos on Youtube as of June 13, claiming that Spacex and CEO Elon Musk are giving away BTC. After a while, Youtube will remove these videos and ban the accounts that uploaded them. However, similar videos will just reappear soon afterward.

The Spacex bitcoin scam website even has a “terms and conditions” section that reads: “This promotion is available worldwide. Anyone can participate. You can only participate once. If you try to participate more than once, your BTC will be automatically refunded. You can send bitcoin using any wallet or exchange – it does not matter.” Continuing to display red flags, the site further states:

If the transaction does not process properly, please try by sending the same amount to the BTC address again, and it should go through. Your original transaction will be refunded as you can only participate once.

BTC giveaway scams often feature famous people or events that are hot at the time. News.Bitcoin.com recently reported on a 5000 BTC giveaway scam leveraging the name of Virgin Galactic chairman Chamath Palihapitiya. Besides Spacex and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, other well-known people whose names have been used to promote bitcoin scams include Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Virgin Group founder Richard Branson, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, and a number of executives in the crypto space.

Some people claim to have fallen for the scam and have complained to Google Inc., owner of Youtube, but the scam videos keep reappearing on the video-sharing platform. Anyone coming across bitcoin giveaways must take caution as there are many of them. Spacex and CEO Elon Musk do not give away free BTC, but many scammers falsely use their names in an effort to make fake cryptocurrency giveaways appear legitimate.

What do you think about this Spacex bitcoin scam? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Elon Musk Bitcoin Giveaway Scam Rakes in Millions of Dollars in BTC

‘Elon Musk’ bitcoin giveaways continue to scam people on Youtube. Scammers have reportedly pulled in millions of dollars in bitcoin from people wanting to double their cryptocurrency. Some of them use bitcoin addresses containing the name Elon Musk, Spacex, or Tesla. Before sending money to a bitcoin address, check if it has been reported as an address used by scammers.

Elon Musk Bitcoin Giveaway Scam

The number of bitcoin scams using the name Elon Musk, Spacex, or Tesla has been growing. Videos promoting a scam claiming that Elon Musk is giving away 5,000 BTC or 10,000 BTC have been appearing regularly on Youtube. News.Bitcoin.com recently reported on this scam which asks people to send them bitcoin, promising to return twice as much BTC sent immediately. The scam pulled people in with an interview with Elon Musk and the recent Spacex launch.

A Youtube video of an Elon Musk 5,000 BTC giveaway scam on June 20. The scammers claim that if you send them some BTC, they will immediately return 2x as much as you sent. The BTC address for this scam starts with “38vTggxwp…” However, some start with variations of Elon’s name.

The CEO of cyber-security firm Adaptiv, Justin Lister, has been tracking bitcoin sent to vanity addresses containing names such as Elon Musk, Telsa, or Spacex to promote BTC giveaway scams over the past month, Zdnet reported on Friday. Examples of such addresses are “1Musk…” or “1Elonmusk…”

He tracked down 66 addresses that have been reported to Bitcoinabuse.com, a public database of bitcoin addresses used by hackers and criminals. Using his research and data from the Bitcoin Abuse website, the news outlet found that a total of 214 BTC have been sent to the Elon Musk vanity addresses, which is more than $2 million at the current exchange rate. Since scammers do not just use vanity addresses, such as the one shown in the image above, the total amount they have raked in from this type of scam could be significantly more than $2 million.

Elon Musk is not the only celebrity being used to promote fake bitcoin giveaways. Others that have been used to promote BTC scams include Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney, FUBU CEO Daymond John, and Rich Dad Poor Dad author Robert Kiyosaki.

It is generally unwise to send bitcoin to anyone claiming to double your BTC. If you come across a bitcoin scam address, you can report it to Bitcoinabuse.com. The site also lets you check whether a particular address has been reported as an address used by scammers, check report history, and monitor stolen bitcoin.

The Bitcoin Abuse website shows that there have been 4,636 reports in the last month. Users can report or check scam addresses as well as track stolen bitcoins.

At the time of this writing, the Bitcoin Abuse website shows that there have been 115 reports in the last day, 680 reports in the last week, and 4,636 reports in the last month.

There is also a new website called Scam Alert, launched on Friday by popular blockchain monitor Whale Alert. You can use the site check if a certain bitcoin address has been reported as a scam address. The Scam Alert website explains: “Our goal is to make blockchain safer for everyone by tracking and exposing criminals who abuse blockchain for illegal activities.”

What do you think about Elon Musk bitcoin giveaway scams making millions? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Elon Musk Bitcoin Giveaway Scam Costs This Man BTC Worth $600K

A German man has shared his story about how he fell for the Elon Musk bitcoin giveaway scam. He lost 10 bitcoins to the scam, worth almost $600K at the current price. “I’d just thrown away the game changer for my family, my early retirement fund, and all the upcoming holidays with my kids,” he revealed.

Fake Elon Musk Bitcoin Giveaway Scams Continue to Dupe Investors

With the price of bitcoin repeatedly hitting record highs, Tesla investing $1.5 billion in the cryptocurrency, and Elon Musk’s various crypto tweets, there has been a rise in bitcoin giveaway scams using the Tesla executive’s name. The BBC reported this week that a German man from Cologne, Sebastian, lost 10 bitcoins to an Elon Musk bitcoin giveaway scam. At the current BTC price of $59,115, based on data from markets.Bitcoin.com, his bitcoins are worth about $600K.

One night, after his wife went to bed, Sebastian received a Twitter notification that Musk had tweeted “Dojo 4 Doge.” This was on Feb. 21. While wondering what it meant, he noticed some comments below the tweet about a bitcoin giveaway. The 42-year-old followed the link posted on Twitter to what he described as a professional-looking website where a BTC giveaway looked to be in full swing. The comments and link were posted by a fake Elon Musk’s Twitter account, but Sebastian did not realize that at the time.

The BTC giveaway appeared to be run by Musk’s Tesla team, inviting people to send them any amount from 0.1 bitcoin to 20 bitcoins, and the team would send back double the amount. There was also a timer counting down to the end of the promotion.

“Sebastian double-checked the verification logo next to Elon Musk’s name, and then tried to decide whether to send five or 10 bitcoin,” the BBC detailed. He told the news outlet:

Take the maximum, I thought, this is definitely real, so I sent 10 bitcoin.

For the next 20 minutes as the timer wound down, Sebastian refreshed his screen every 30 seconds, excitedly waiting to receive 20 bitcoins from the Tesla team.

He then saw another “cryptic tweet” that Musk posted on Twitter and felt reassured that the giveaway was real, the news outlet conveyed. However, as the timer on the scam website wound down to zero, “I realised then that it was a big fake,” he said, elaborating:

I threw my head on to the sofa cushions and my heart was beating so hard. I thought I’d just thrown away the game changer for my family, my early retirement fund and all the upcoming holidays with my kids.

“I went upstairs and sat on the edge of the bed to tell my wife. I woke her up and told her that I’d made a big mistake, a really big mistake,” he admitted.

Sebastian did not sleep that night, spending hours emailing the scam website and tweeting the fake Elon Musk’s Twitter account to try to get some or all of his BTC back. However, he eventually accepted that his 10 bitcoins were gone forever.

Researchers say scammers are making record-breaking sums in 2021. Giveaway scams have already generated more than $18 million in the first three months of this year, compared with the $16 million made in total for the whole of 2020. Bitcoin.com News previously reported that an Elon Musk bitcoin giveaway scam raked in millions of dollars. Scammers also use another of Musk’s companies, Spacex, as well as other well-known names to promote their BTC giveaway scams, including Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

Sebastian warns others not to fall for such a scam as he did, insisting that he is “normally not the biggest idiot in the whole world.” He further shared: “I have studied and have a good marketing job in the IT Industry. I live together with my wife and two children and we have a nice house with a garden.” Nonetheless, he concluded:

I was greedy that night and it made me blind.

Meanwhile, the real Elon Musk has continually tweeted about bitcoin and dogecoin. The Spacex CEO recently changed his title at Tesla from CEO to “Technoking” and the title of his CFO is now “Master of Coin.” Furthermore, he almost sold a song about non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as an NFT.

What do you think about bitcoin giveaway scams? Let us know in the comments section below.

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