The YouTube channel of Australian news agency, 7News, was attacked by hackers and live-streamed a deepfake image of Elon Musk calling for investment in cryptocurrency, attracting hundreds of thousands of views.
7News' YouTube channel was attacked by hackers and spread a cryptocurrency scam using a deepfake image of Elon Musk. They changed the interface of 7News channel to look like Tesla's channel, with a fake image of Elon Musk created using AI. This fake “Elon Musk” promises to send back double the amount of cryptocurrency sent by viewers to a specific wallet address.
At the time of the incident, about 150,000 people were watching three live videos showing fake images of Elon Musk appearing on 7News channel. However, it is unclear how many of those views are real, because hackers may have used bot accounts to increase the number of virtual viewers.
Elon Musk's deepfake image on YouTube channel 7News was hacked. Source: YouTube
Although links to 7News' YouTube channel have been disabled, the hacked channel still shows the news outlet's verification check.
A spokesperson for Seven West Media, the parent company of 7News, said they have learned that some of the company's YouTube channels have been hacked and are spreading fraudulent content. Seven is currently investigating and coordinating with YouTube to fix the problem and remove harmful content as soon as possible. YouTube has not yet commented on the incident.
Elon Musk is a famous figure and his image is often used by bad guys to commit cryptocurrency scams. Earlier this month, there were more than 35 live videos on YouTube impersonating Elon Musk with the purpose of defrauding viewers into participating in "super profitable" investment programs.
The attack on 7News' YouTube channel took place the same week that the Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian reported that Seven West Media would cut 150 jobs, affecting a number of positions in the marketing department. The coincidence of this timing raises suspicions that hackers may have taken advantage of the personnel fluctuations at Seven West Media to attack 7News' system.