Beware of Solana and Microstrategy deepfakes

You can find more and more deepfakes that try to make you invest in a crypto scam on social media. Solana and Microstrategy, both of which have had a fantastic 2023, are the latest victims of scammers. Pay attention.

Deepfake

Of course, everyone has by now seen the deepfake videos in which Elon Musk tells you that he is promoting a new cryptocurrency. Completely fake of course.

The most famous one was dubbed using a Zoom conversation that Musk once had with former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Cathie Wood, the well-known stock picker who was still a big Tesla fan at the time. The original dates back to 2021.

this phishing scam taking place right now on youtube claiming to be a discussion between Elon Musk, Jack Dorsey and Cathy Wood, and on the side they’re offering to double whatever crypto you send them. It’s either a stolen video or a deepfake phishing scam. #Bitcoin #ETH. report pic.twitter.com/UYhopYiY7L

— river2thesea (@r_ink_limited) September 24, 2022

In the deepfake video, these celebrities’ voices often match their lips movement, yet Cathie, Jack and Elon don’t say what they said two years ago in the original video. They are trying to convince everyone to buy a new cryptocurrency, which is of course completely fake.

Oh my god what is going on at twitter, I just got a deepfaked @aeyakovenko ad. @Austin_Federa you have contacts at Twitter, no? pic.twitter.com/FlVOx8tWjX

— CherryWorm 🏞️💂 (@CarryWorm) January 3, 2024

S O L

Scammers are of course modernizing and have clearly seen that Solana is the best-gaining cryptocurrency from Coinmarketcap’s top 10 over the last few months.

So you now come across a new deepfake video, in which Solana founder Anatoly Yakovenko talks about a “historic day” for the coin’s fans. He thanks the “S-O-L” community and offers a giveaway through a QR code and a website. Of course anyone who clicks is scammed out of their funds if you fill in your wallet’s address.

“There has been a substantial increase in deepfakes and other AI-generated content recently,” admitted Austin Federa of the Solana Foundation in response to the news.

I was just shown a scam ad on YouTube that has a deep fake of Toly.

Vid link below along with a screenshot of it showing up as an ad.

Please report. @aeyakovenko @therealchaseeb @Austin_Federa @YouTube https://t.co/G37pYuR5KS pic.twitter.com/EhA2ZJMHjL

— psionic (@p_s_i_o_n_i_c) January 3, 2024

Michael Saylor, founder of Microstrategy, also sees deepfake videos of himself containing a QR code and an invitation popping up since a few weeks and warned his followers this weekend.

So pay close attention. Crypto has been doing very well in the last few months and scammers have also noticed this.