Amazing. The entrepreneur Elon Musk actually thanked the US President on Twitter and announced that he wanted to give away 100 ethers (ETH, the currency unit of the cryptocurrency Ethereum). For this you only have to pay him 0.2 ETH and get immediately back to the same address 2 ETH.
The offer sounds good. Too good. So good that the unsuspecting user may miss the fact that Elon Musk is written with two “n” and two “u”. A fake account – and not an isolated case. Over the past two weeks, cybercriminals have imitated various celebrities on Twitter to gain access to Ethereum.
The news portal Bleepingcomputer found about three fake profiles by Elon Musk. @eonmusk, @elonnmuusk, @eIonmsuk. Two of them have Twitter blocked meanwhile. The portal also found two profiles allegedly from John McAfee (@officialnmcafee, @officialnmcafee) and a fake profile from Warren Buffet (@WarrenBuffert).
Today is a big day, we will donate 120 ETH to our supporters. Just sent 0.2 ETH to the address below and you will recieve 2.0 ETH
0xd9566c3a374C085BAe0365A00399872b7d20ED6B
— Elon Musk (@eIonmsuk) February 6, 2018
The messages always follow the same pattern. However, the funds and addresses of Ethereum wallets would differ from profile to profile. According to the research, the fraudsters are said to have cheated at least 7.69 ETH – the equivalent of about 6400 US dollars. The actual sum could be even higher, as the portal can no longer track the money through the now blocked Twitter accounts.
