Ranveer Allahbadia, popularly known as BeerBiceps, faced a significant cybersecurity incident when two of his YouTube channels were compromised by individuals promoting cryptocurrency fraud. The content creator is recognized for hosting engaging discussions with well-known Indian figures from various fields, amassing a following of over 12 million subscribers combined. Following the breach, Allahbadia reported that he lost access to both channels.
In a troubling turn of events, the hackers altered the branding of his channels by introducing logos and images associated with Elon Musk and Tesla. They also deleted all previously uploaded videos and began to push a fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme under Allahbadia’s name.
YouTube stepped in to restore Allahbadia’s access to his channels after the incident. However, during the hackers’ brief control, they were able to display enticing crypto schemes, luring viewers with unrealistic promises of 200 percent returns. The intruders even conducted a livestream on the channels, showcasing images of both Musk and former President Donald Trump, and placed a QR code on screen that led users to a fraudulent Tesla-themed website. This site also included a staggering giveaway purportedly worth $100 million (approximately Rs. 836 million), according to a report by Crypto.news.
The FBI has recently highlighted that crypto scammers are employing increasingly advanced tactics to exploit unsuspecting individuals. In this case, the hackers featured a calculator on their site, allowing users to estimate potential returns on amounts they would ‘donate’ for Trump’s presidential campaign.
The fake website reportedly displayed a message that read, “We welcome you to the official event from Elon Musk and Trump. This event aims to popularize cryptocurrency. To participate, you need to send cryptocurrency to any wallet (BTC, ETH, DOGE, SOL) you see on the site; we will multiply the amount sent by two and return it to your wallet.”
Subscribers of Allahbadia’s channels began to notice the unusual activity and raised concerns by posting about the situation on X (formerly known as Twitter).
According to the report from Crypto.news, at one point, the streams on one of Allahbadia’s hacked channels reached over 149,000 viewers, indicating a substantial number of individuals could have been at risk of falling for the scam.
This incident is not isolated; earlier in the month, YouTube experienced a surge of deepfake videos featuring Apple CEO Tim Cook that were also promoting crypto fraud schemes.
