Deepfake Scams Exploit Apple Event Livestreams

Deepfake 诈骗利用 Apple 活动直播

On September 9, Apple's highly anticipated event witnessed the unveiling of the iPhone 16 models. YouTube was saturated with livestreams that utilized deepfake technology to impersonate Apple CEO Tim Cook. These fraudulent streams were part of a cryptocurrency scam orchestrating to deceive viewers.

9 月 9 日，苹果备受期待的活动见证了 iPhone 16 机型的发布。 YouTube 上充斥着利用 Deepfake 技术冒充苹果首席执行官蒂姆·库克的直播。这些欺诈性流媒体是精心策划的加密货币骗局的一部分，旨在欺骗观众。

These malicious streams featured an AI-generated version of Tim Cook urging viewers to transfer cryptocurrencies (e.g., Bitcoin, Ether, Tether, Dogecoin) to a specified "contribution address." The promise was a double-return on the deposited amount. The fabricated Cook claimed, "Once you complete your deposit, the system will automatically process it and send back double the amount of the cryptocurrency you deposited." However, this scheme is known as a "double-your-money" scam, where perpetrators keep the funds and leave contributors with nothing.

这些恶意流以人工智能生成的蒂姆·库克版本为特色，敦促观众将加密货币（例如比特币、以太币、Tether、狗狗币）转移到指定的“贡献地址”。承诺是存入金额的双倍返还。伪造的库克声称，“一旦您完成存款，系统将自动处理并退还您存入的加密货币金额的双倍。”然而，这个计划被称为“双倍你的钱”骗局，犯罪者保留资金，而让贡献者一无所有。

The scam streams shrewdly coincided with Apple's authentic "Glowtime" event, lending a facade of credibility to the fraud. One such stream was hosted on a YouTube channel deceptively named "Apple US," even featuring a genuine verification tick to further mislead viewers. Shared videos and screenshots on indicated that some of these fraudulent streams garnered hundreds of thousands of views, although it is suspected that many were from bots created to enhance the perception of legitimacy.

该骗局巧妙地与苹果公司真正的“Glowtime”活动同时发生，为欺诈行为提供了可信度。其中一个直播是在一个名为“Apple US”的 YouTube 频道上托管的，甚至带有真实的验证标记，以进一步误导观众。分享的视频和屏幕截图表明，其中一些欺诈性流媒体获得了数十万次观看，尽管怀疑其中许多来自为增强合法性认知而创建的机器人。

YouTube's support team recognized the issue and encouraged users to report the scam through its official reporting tool. Subsequently, the fraudulent videos were removed, and the linked accounts were deactivated.

YouTube 的支持团队认识到了这个问题，并鼓励用户通过其官方举报工具举报该骗局。随后，欺诈视频被删除，关联账户也被停用。

This incident highlights the increasing sophistication of scammers utilizing deepfake technology to craft convincing replicas of influential figures to execute scams. Similar occurrences have been reported, including the hijacking of the Australian broadcaster Seven's YouTube news channel by a deepfake Elon Musk promoting cryptocurrency scams. These events demonstrate the growing audacity and finesse of online fraudsters in exploiting digital platforms and advanced technologies for fraudulent activities.

这一事件凸显了诈骗者利用深度造假技术制作令人信服的影响力人物的复制品来实施诈骗的手段越来越复杂。类似的事件也有报道，包括澳大利亚广播公司 Sev​​en 的 YouTube 新闻频道被深度假货埃隆·马斯克劫持，宣传加密货币诈骗。这些事件表明，在线欺诈者利用数字平台和先进技术进行欺诈活动的胆量和技巧日益增强。