Crypto-Doubling Scams Surge Following Presidential Debate

Security researchers have warned of a new wave of investment scams attempting to cash in on public awareness of the presidential debate last month.

Netcraft said it found 24 such domains related to the debate, including 14 phishing sites using the word “debate” in their domain, such as “debatetrump[.]io,” and “tesladebate[.]com.”

“All the examples exploit the image of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, tech entrepreneur and billionaire Elon Musk, or a blend of both,” it explained.

“Criminals likely use these personas to add legitimacy to their crypto investment theme – one political leader, one policy influencer – both conveying the perception of wealth and authority.”

Read more on investment scams: Investment Fraud is Now Biggest Cybercrime Earner

Crypto-doubling scams trick victims into handing over their cryptocurrency with the promise of doubling their ‘investment.’ They offer quick returns and fake celebrity endorsements, but little transparency about how the scheme works.

The threat actors also try to hurry victims into making rash decisions by creating a sense of urgency – a classic social engineering ploy.

Netcraft shared several variations on the scam, one using the headline, “Elon Musk X Donald Trump Crypto Giveaway.” It features trusted brand logos of the Trump campaign, graphs and diagrams to add legitimacy, and QR codes to link to a payment page.

Another references the debate directly and features the images of Donald Trump, Elon Musk and Democratic hopeful Kamala Harris.

“The page features Elon Musk’s Tesla logo instead of Trump’s campaign logo, demonstrating how criminals tailor their content to appeal to different audiences, i.e., politically engaged vs cryptocurrency minded,” Netcraft claimed.

Spread Via Social Media

The vendor said it has observed these presidential debate-themed crypto-doubling scams being distributed by hijacked and malicious YouTube channels in which Musk discusses the debate, although it claimed that they’re also being spread on X, Facebook, Instagram and Telegram.

“For the brands and personas imitated, this type of scam erodes trust and credibility and may lead to a backlash from victims, as well as surplus legal and customer service costs. The time it takes to recoup these losses can have far-reaching consequences,” concluded Netcraft.

“Identifying and removing the digital content used to target victims through these campaigns requires speed, accuracy and scale.”