7News YouTube channel hacked, broadcasts AI Elon Musk crypto scam
By Calum Jaspan and David Swan
7News’ YouTube channel – which boasts 1.71 million subscribers – was hacked and used to live-stream an AI-generated Elon Musk cryptocurrency scam on Thursday.
About 60,000 people were watching one live-stream and 45,000 were watching another at various points on Thursday before they were taken down, and then later re-uploaded.
A screengrab from a live video on the 7News YouTube channel showing an AI-generated Elon Musk.
The stream showed an artificial intelligence representation of Musk, the owner and chief executive of Tesla, touting a cryptocurrency scam while standing in front of a Tesla car. Later, two more streams were uploaded showing a Tesla launch event for its Cybertruck in 2023.
Seven’s main YouTube channel has been taken down and hyperlinks to the page are broken, with a message displayed saying it is unavailable. The 7News YouTube channel, which was rebranded as a Tesla account, was also subsequently taken down.
A Seven spokesman said it was aware that some of its branded YouTube channels were not appearing as they should.
“Seven is investigating and working with YouTube to resolve the situation as soon as possible,” the spokesman said.
‘I am not joking, this is absolutely real and available to all of you.’
A fake, AI-generated Elon Musk in a cryptocurrency scam video uploaded by hackers to the 7NEWS YouTube page
The scam encouraged viewers to scan a Tesla-branded QR code on screen and deposit money into the scheme, offering them the opportunity to “double their crypto assets”.
“Let’s make this evening unforgettable and double your wealth with Tesla,” the AI-generated Musk says.
“I am not joking, this is absolutely real and available to all of you,” the deep-faked version of the billionaire said.
YouTube did not respond when approached for comment.
Cryptocurrency scams have surged in recent years, with billionaire businessman Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest currently embroiled in legal action with tech giant Facebook over fraudulent crypto ads featuring his likeness.
On Wednesday, rock band Metallica’s X accounts were hacked by cryptocurrency scammers who promoted a crypto token, “METAL”, before the band’s management reclaimed the accounts and deleted the posts.
And in 2020, high-profile X accounts, including those belonging to Musk, US President Joe Biden and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates were hacked to promote bitcoin.
A YouTube spokesperson told this masthead after being alerted that 7News’ accounts had been compromised due to unauthorised activity, that its team immediately investigated the claim and is still taking steps to secure the accounts. This included stopping the unauthorised livestreams.
“We take account security very seriously and if a user believes their account has been compromised, they can notify our team to secure the account and regain control,” the spokesperson said.
Australia’s corporate watchdog has taken down more than 2500 investment scam and phishing websites since July last year, with many related to scam crypto investments.
Earlier this year, Russian cyber hacker Aleksandr Ermakov who was named by the federal government as the person responsible for the 2022 Medibank hack that compromised the information of more than four million Australians.
The hack adds to a torrid week for Seven, which made 150 staff redundant, including three of its most senior executives as it battles with an ailing advertising market, and an expected exit of commercial revenue from Meta.
Aleksandr Ermakov, the man sanctioned by the Australian government over the Medibank hack.
Company veteran and chief revenue officer Kurt Burnette, chief marketer Melissa Hopkins, and Lewis Martin, the head of sport and Seven Melbourne’s managing director were among the most senior names to go.
The cuts come as part of a renewed drive by Seven’s new boss Jeff Howard to find more than $100 million in savings, after profits fell by more than 50 per cent in its half-year results.
It has been a scandal-ridden few months for Seven. It wrongly identified university student Benjamin Cohen as the Bondi Junction mass murderer during a broadcast, later settling a legal case brought by the 20-year-old.
A number of senior journalists and executives also left the network in April following Seven’s Spotlight scandal involving Bruce Lehrmann. Among those was the company’s director of news and current affairs, Craig McPherson.
Senior broadcast journalist Robert Ovadia’s exit then drew significant attention this month, after he took leave as the company investigated an allegation of “inappropriate behaviour”. He was sacked by the company last week.
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