Have
you
seen
YouTube
ads
recently
for
a
“slippage
bot”
that
uses
ChatGPT
and
promises
to
help
you
earn
passive
income
with
crypto?
It’s
a
scam.
And
it’s
ripping
off
a
lot
of
people,
all
while
using
unsuspecting
actors
hired
on
Fiverr
who
don’t
understand
what
they’ve
been
hired
to
read.
One
of
the
actors
tells
Gizmodo
he
ultimately
didn’t
even
get
paid
for
his
work,
despite
his
face
showing
up
constantly
on
YouTube
under
accounts
he
doesn’t
control.
The videos all follow the same basic script. They open with an actor saying they personally created a bot using ChatGPT that allows anyone to earn money without any real coding knowledge. Early in the videos, the actors warn that the crypto community has lots of scammers, so it’s important that the viewer not interact with “unfamiliar wallets” and “unknown exchanges.”
After
getting
the
ironic
warning
about
scammers
out
of
the
way,
the
script
then
dives
into
where
you
can
copy
code
that
can
be
pasted
into
a
website
that
will
supposedly
execute
a
so-called
front
run
on
crypto
transactions.
You’ll
have
to
link
up
your
crypto
wallet,
of
course,
for
the
entire
thing
to
work.
The
underlying
idea,
also
known
as
a
sandwich
attack,
is
a
real
thing
done
by
unethical
crypto
traders
to
extract
money.
But
that’s
not
what
will
happen
if
you
try
to
execute
the
code
in
the
video.
If
you
actually
just
breeze
through
the
code,
there’s
nothing
inherently
suspicious
about
it,
aside
from
the
promise
of
free
money.
But
that’s
because
the
real
wallet
address
has
been
hidden
inside
by
splitting
it
up
into
pieces.
Anyone
who
connects
their
Metamask
wallet
and
runs
the
code
simply
sends
their
crypto
to
one
of
many
wallets
controlled
by
the
anonymous
scammers.
The
videos
all
follow
the
same
basic
script
with
minor
changes
and
the
only
real
difference
between
many
of
the
videos
is
the
wording
about
how
much
you’ll
supposedly
make
with
their
technique.
Sometimes
the
titles
and
thumbnails
promise
$2,000
a
day
or
$3,000
per
day,
while
others
list
the
amounts
in
ethereum
or
percentages.
But
anyone
who
follows
the
video’s
instructions
is
going
to
make
precisely
zero
dollars,
and
instead
send
their
crypto
to
scammers.
Gizmodo has yet to find evidence that anyone who’s appearing in these videos knows they’re participating in a scam. In fact, three of the people we’ve talked to were all hired on Fiverr for video and voice-acting work. And it’s pretty clear why these scammers are hiring real actors. By laying down a few hundred dollars at a gig-work site like Fiverr, (one actor told us he got $500), these scammers get real people to be the face of their scam without ever revealing their own identities while raking in the real money.
As you can see in the short video compilation we’ve compiled below, the script being read is identical across hundreds of videos on YouTube.
Clips from scam YouTube videos featuring unsuspecting actors
The
videos
have
been
an
enormous
headache
for
some
of
the
actors
involved
because
there
appears
to
be
an
army
of
new
YouTube
accounts
posting
the
videos
every
day.
The
actors
have
no
control
over
how
the
videos
are
being
used,
and
even
if
they’re
able
to
get
some
taken
down,
they’re
reappearing
constantly
on
other
accounts.
“I’ve been contacted by internet security professionals, OSINT enthusiasts, [...] one victim, AND multiple people in my real life relationships that have had the video hit their feeds,” one of the actors, Scott Panfil, told Gizmodo by email on Sunday.
Panfil, a 41-year old music teacher in New York, went on to say that at least four “actual friends” have reached out to him since seeing the videos in their YouTube ads. He contacts YouTube every time he finds a new video to get it taken down but it’s quite a game of whack-a-mole.
Panfil
reached
out
to
Fiverr
to
ask
about
the
account
that
hired
him
and
was
told
it
was
terminated.
But
he
says
Fiverr
insisted
it
couldn’t
do
anything
beyond
that.
A
spokesperson
for
Fiverr
told
Gizmodo
in
an
email
Tuesday
the
company
has
blocked
the
accounts
brought
to
their
attention
and
are
going
to
provide
Panfil
with
some
kind
of
compensation
after
he
wasn’t
paid.
“Any
attempt
to
defraud
or
scam
others
is
in
clear
violation
of
our
terms
of
service
and
strictly
prohibited.
It
is
against
our
Community
Standards
to
allow
anyone
to
use
services
offered
through
Fiverr
to
promote
intentionally
misleading
information
or
fraud,
or
that
can
pose
financial
risks
for
our
users,”
the
Fiverr
spokesperson
said.
Many
of
the
scammy
videos
are
unlisted,
meaning
they
don’t
show
up
in
regular
YouTube
and
Google
search
results.
But
they
frequently
appear
as
paid
ads,
as
you
can
see
below
in
a
screenshot
Gizmodo
took
on
March
23.
That
video
on
the
far
right
featuring
Panfil
is
“sponsored,”
indicated
just
below
the
title
that
it’s
being
promoted
through
YouTube’s
ad
program.
Screenshot: YouTube
Anyone who clicks to view the supposed creator’s other videos will see just five or six created recently. Those videos tend to be generic explainers on technical topics like NFTs and smart contracts, making it appear as though the person who ostensibly created this YouTube page knows what they’re talking about when it comes to crypto.
But
the
person
that’s
featured
on
each
YouTube
account
has
no
control
over
the
content
that
appears
there,
as
you
can
see
in
an
account
using
Panfil’s
face
below.
These
people
were
just
hired
for
a
single
video
on
Fiverr
and
their
videos
are
being
reused
repeatedly.
Screenshot: YouTube
Most of the tutorials acting as a smokescreen aren’t even narrated. They’re boring and act as nothing more than cover for the paid ads that aren’t even visible to a basic search on YouTube. Again, it should be stressed that the people who have appeared in these ads probably have no idea they’re promoting a scam. And their videos are being used across several accounts.
The
other
common
element
in
all
of
these
YouTube
videos
is
that
the
comments
are
overwhelmingly
positive,
clearly
a
result
of
some
bot
network
trying
to
lend
the
scams
credibility.
Screenshot: YouTube
Oddly
enough,
Gizmodo
first
learned
about
this
scam
about
a
month
ago
while
combing
through
consumer
complaints
filed
with
the
FTC
that
mention
ChatGPT.
We
obtained
the
complaints
through
the
Freedom
of
Information
Act,
and
one
complaint,
which
was
filed
on
Dec.
27,
2023,
really
caught
our
eye:
I found a video from YouTube “etsy web3 dev,” YouTuber video called “I used ChatGPT arbitrage Trading Bot to make $1,248 per day - passive income.”
I followed instructions to deposit 0.5 Ethereum from my Metamask crypto wallet to an Etherscan contract that I was instructed to create. I did create the contract then used the compiler in ChatGPT to generate profit from my 0.5 ETH that I sent from my Metamask account. Nothing was found in my wallet and YouTuber could not respond my message. I tried again with 0.65 ETH the following day, but still nothing showed in my contract. I suspect the YouTuber to take in a way my Ethereum through the instructions are crooked to steal my money that are now worth $2,500 total.
The
name
of
the
person
who
filed
the
complaint
was
redacted
by
the
FTC,
which
is
standard
practice
when
the
agency
releases
documents
through
FOIA,
so
we
were
unable
to
reach
out
to
that
person
directly.
But
having
the
name
of
a
scammy
video
led
us
down
a
rabbit
hole
where
we
found
hundreds
of
other
videos
with
similar
titles,
all
promising
easy
passive
income.
They
were
all
using
the
same
script
and
being
read
by
real
people.
Ever since we started looking into this scam, the YouTube videos have become even more common, as others on social media have reported seeing them frequently in recent days. YouTube spokesperson Javier Hernandez says the platform has “strict policies in place to protect the YouTube community” and six channels have been terminated for scams and other deceptive practices.
“We are also in the process of reviewing the ads in question and will take the appropriate action on those that violate our ads policies,” Hernandez said via email.
Most
of
the
videos
have
real
actors,
but
there
are
some
where
we
never
see
a
person
appear
aside
from
the
thumbnail.
And
while
almost
all
of
the
videos
we
found
containing
this
scam
featured
male
actors,
there
were
some
that
featured
female
voice
actors
but
they
rarely
had
visual
representation
of
an
actual
woman
in
the
video,
aside
from
some
thumbnails.
How
much
are
these
scammers
making?
That
part
is
hard
to
figure
out
precisely,
but
Gizmodo
messaged
one
victim
who
said
he
lost
1
ETH,
which
is
about
$3,300
at
the
current
price.
Based
on
anecdotal
reports
on
various
crypto
forums
the
amount
being
pulled
in
by
these
scammers
is
almost
certainly
reaching
into
the
hundreds
of
thousands
and
beyond.
There are a handful of video explainers trying to warn people about the scam. But they haven’t gotten much attention. This video, for example, has just 75,000 views at the time of this writing despite being up for almost a year. Disturbingly, some of the videos claiming to debunk the scam are actually just trying to push their own version of the scam by debunking other videos and claiming they have a real bot that can generate this kind of passive income.
Needless
to
say,
you
should
be
wary
of
anyone
promising
a
way
to
make
easy
money.
And
if
you’re
an
actor
looking
to
do
some
work
through
Fiverr,
make
sure
you
understand
what
you’re
reading.
Because
even
if
you
get
paid,
you
could
be
confronted
with
some
major
frustrations
down
the
line
if
it
winds
up
being
a
scam.
When you subscribe to the blog, we will send you an e-mail when there are new updates on the site so you wouldn't miss them.
Comments