CertiK, a blockchain security firm, revealed that front-running bot scams are gaining traction on YouTube. The report showed that dubious videos have increased on the platform sixfold in 2022.
In its latest report, CertiK revealed many front-running bot scams are enticing people on YouTube. It says these bot scams promise free returns as high as ten times a day but end up defrauding them.
According to the Report, 84% of videos on YouTube that mentioned: "front running bot" were scams. Significantly, the number increased from 28 to 168 videos between 2021 and 2022, showing a 500% increase.
Furthermore, the report revealed that the scams follow a similar pattern. The scam has been programmed to guide victims to download fake software. Immediately you download it, it accesses your wallet and swipes all your assets.
Similarly, the malicious bot scans the blockchain for unconfirmed transactions and pays higher gas fees. The higher gas fee enables the bot to get the mining capacity before the transaction completes. The report says the bots "will essentially beat (others) to the punch and take all the profit on the offer."
CertiK also reports some of the prominent YouTube videos using dubious titles. They include "$15,000 Front Running Crypto Bot Leak! – 50X HUGE RETURNS!" and "Uniswap Front Running Bot 2022 – EASY TUTORIAL (Huge profits)". All the videos contain fake tutorials by scammers on downloading and using bots.
Coincidentally, most of the comment sections in all the Youtube videos are full of bot comments praising the content. The bot comments swarmed the entire section and buried real comments, giving warnings to unsuspecting users.
Interestingly, similar scams have flooded the crypto ecosystem recently. CertiK has continued to uncover some of them while others are still at large.
On 17 November, CertiK reported that crypto scammers have begun buying identities on the black market. They put names and faces on the identities and tag such fraudulent processes. These scammers are called "Professional KYC actors," and they sell identities for as low as $8.
Similarly, Reddit users raised an alert on 1 December. Members of a community on Reddit, r/Metallica, sent out warnings over fake Metallica live streams— featuring all band members linked to crypto giveaway scams. Some community members claimed the YouTube algorithm had been recommending the videos as part of top recommendations.
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