Modified Video of FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Directs Users to Fraudulent Website – This is What You Need to Know

A modified video of Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and former CEO of collapsed crypto exchange FTX, is trying to trick users into a fake crypto giveaway to potentially steal their funds. 

Over the weekend, a deepfake video impersonating SBF was circulating on Twitter. To make the fake video more believable, scammers managed to use a Twitter blue account and mimic SBF’s real account.

In the video, Bankman-Fried appeared to offer “compensation” for users who lost their funds in the fallout of FTX by doubling their cryptocurrency in a typical giveaway scam.

“Hello everyone. As you know our FTX exchange is going bankrupt. But I hasten to inform all users that you should not panic. As compensation for the loss we have prepared a giveaway for you in which you can double your cryptocurrency. To do this, just go to the site ftxcompensation.com”

Over the weekend, a verified account posing as FTX founder SBF posted dozens of copies of this deepfake video offering FTX users "compensation for the loss" in a phishing scam designed to drain their crypto wallets pic.twitter.com/3KoAPRJsya

— Jason Koebler (@jason_koebler) November 21, 2022

The scam has ostensibly taken advantage of Elon Musk’s new policy for selling blue Twitter checkmarks for $8. Musk, who took over the social media platform in late October, has announced that Twitter will charge $8 monthly to users who want a blue tick. 

“Send the desired number of coins to the special address below. Once we receive your translation, we will immediately send the requested amount back to you. You can only take part in our giveaway once. Hurry up!” said the deepfake version of SBF in a video posted by the fake account. 

The video directed users to a website where they could enter the scam giveaway. According to a Vice report, the site in question has a sleek design, prominently features Bankman-Fried’s face and FTX’s logo, and is registered to an individual in Nevis, an island near Puerto Rico. 

Impersonating high-profile crypto figures in a bid to steal user funds is nothing new. As reported, over the past years, deepfake videos of Tron founder Justin Sun and Binance CEO CZ have been circulating all over Twitter.  

In fact, in a bid to look more convincing, scammers have also tried impersonating regular people who even have a small audience.