Woz sues YouTube over “bitcoin giveaway” scam videos using his name

Enlarge / A screenshot from Wozniak's lawsuit shows a typical "Bitcoin giveaway" scam video on YouTube. (credit: YouTube / Wozniak et al)

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has sued YouTube over the proliferation of "bitcoin giveaway" scam videos on the YouTube platform. The videos falsely use the names of Wozniak and other celebrities-including Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin-to give the scams legitimacy.

Scammers hijack popular YouTube accounts and change their names so that they appear to be the official accounts of celebrities like Wozniak or companies like Apple. They then broadcast a "live" video showing old footage of the celebrity discussing cryptocurrency or related topics. Alongside the footage is text claiming that if someone sends bitcoin to a particular address, the celebrity would send back double the amount.

Along with Wozniak, the plaintiffs include more than a dozen individuals who were taken in by the scam, losing bitcoins worth anywhere from a few dollars to more than $40,000. In total, cryptocurrency scams like this have cost victims millions of dollars.

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