The scammers launched a fake Apple presentation shortly after the real one. An old interview with Tim Cook was used to fill it. Thanks to the many relevant keywords in the title and description, the stream attracted tens of thousands of people. The description and comments were filled with strange links to a suspicious crypto site.
The original 2018 interview used for the stream is here:
The broadcast was called Apple Event Live. CEO of Apple Tim Cook: Apple & Metaverse in 2022 that just looks like a set of keys. The attackers overlaid the bitcoin and ethereum logos on the stream along with a CNN Money “die” containing the text of the Apple Crypto Event 2022 and BREAKING NEWS.
While the fake livestream was clearly unrelated to Apple, it took place at a time when the focus was on the company. Apple broadcast its big event a few hours ago, and CEO Tim Cook was interviewed at the Vox Media Code conference a little later. This misleading trick was an attempt to deceive people who are aware of some Apple event, but do not know exactly what is happening.
A lot of people got into the fake stream by going straight from YouTube recommendations. The show managed to gather more than 70 thousand viewers. YouTube did not immediately respond to complaints. Shortly after this story was published in the press, the broadcast was removed for violating YouTube’s terms.
Cyber attacks and fakes: what are they, how to recognize and defend
Source: The Verge