Ads with the Apple logo and a link purportedly leading to CNN have been used to promote the fake cryptocurrency token dubbed "iToken" across X, formerly Twitter, as part of an ongoing cryptocurrency scam, Cybernews reports.
Clicking on the advertisement redirects to a cryptocurrency presale landing page that includes a fraudulent testimonial from Apple CEO Tim Cook, as well as almost two dozen various wallet options where funds could be sent by victims, an analysis from Silent Push showed. Such a malicious scheme has been facilitated by the exploitation of X's advertising display URL functionality, as well as URL shorteners, according to researchers, who also discovered 90 websites from last year that have been associated with the scam. "While it's no surprise that there are financial scams on X/Twitter, especially those that impersonate major brands, this most recent campaigns ability to spoof the visible X advertising URL is a novel method for tricking potential victims, one only occasionally seen in the wild," said the report.
Clicking on the advertisement redirects to a cryptocurrency presale landing page that includes a fraudulent testimonial from Apple CEO Tim Cook, as well as almost two dozen various wallet options where funds could be sent by victims, an analysis from Silent Push showed. Such a malicious scheme has been facilitated by the exploitation of X's advertising display URL functionality, as well as URL shorteners, according to researchers, who also discovered 90 websites from last year that have been associated with the scam. "While it's no surprise that there are financial scams on X/Twitter, especially those that impersonate major brands, this most recent campaigns ability to spoof the visible X advertising URL is a novel method for tricking potential victims, one only occasionally seen in the wild," said the report.
