Bitcoin scammers steal $69k using iPhone 13 event as a lure

Comments

• Reply 1 of 16

  sflocal Posts: 6,093member

  September 21, 2021 7:00PM

  I'm sorry, but if people are smart enough to obtain bitcoin AND get scammed out of it, I have little to no sympathy.  This website has "scam" written all over it.

  
  

  So frustrating.

  
• Reply 2 of 16

  mark fearing Posts: 420member

  September 21, 2021 7:06PM

  You'd think - "Send us money, and we will send you more back" may be a hint of bullsh**. Free lunch analogy? 

  
• Reply 3 of 16

  kurai_kage Posts: 104member

  September 21, 2021 7:16PM

  Like the above commenters, I can't even begin to be sympathetic.  In what world does someone trade less money for more.  (Maybe money laundering???)  Who would ever believe Apple might be involved?  This isn't even remotely close to something Elon would promote.  Ignorant people should NOT be taken advantage of, and that is just what these scams do.

  
• Reply 4 of 16

  macrumorssucks Posts: 4member

  September 21, 2021 7:18PM

  So like 1.5 btc?  Not very good scammers

  
• Reply 5 of 16

  shareef777 Posts: 136member

  September 21, 2021 7:19PM

  "This was a scam, but there was just enough care taken to convince people it was legitimate."

  
  

  HOW!!!!!? If a site says, gimme money and I'll give you back more money, there's a zero percent chance of legitimacy involved there.

  
• Reply 6 of 16

  StrangeDays Posts: 12,877member

  September 21, 2021 7:52PM

  And that font! 

  edited September 2021
• Reply 7 of 16

  macplusplus Posts: 2,112member

  September 21, 2021 8:12PM

  AppleInsider said:

  Scammers utilized a fake event stream, a faked Apple website, and the promise of free Bitcoin to scam unsuspecting fans during the iPhone 13 reveal event.
  
  

  
  This obvious scam earned $69k in Bitcoin. Image source: Zscaler

  
  
  People looking for the Apple Event on September 14 may have stumbled into a lookalike stream, showing old interviews with Apple CEO Tim Cook instead of the "California Streaming" stream. Those who stuck around saw messages pop up in the video telling them to visit a special website: www.2021.apple.org.
  
  As reported by Zscaler, the website looked like a fake version of Apple's website, advertising a Bitcoin giveaway. All the person had to do was send 0.1 to 20 Bitcoin through a QR code to have double that amount sent back.
  
  This was a scam, but there was just enough care taken to convince people it was legitimate. Over $69k was sent to that Bitcoin wallet showing the scheme was highly successful.
  
  Those with some technological background might spot the several flaws with the website, from the grammar problems to the .org URL. However, most people with just a passing understanding of technology could have easily mistaken such a website for a legitimate promotion.
  
  The scammer's website is currently down and will likely remain down after successfully swindling folks out of $69,000 in Bitcoin.
  
  Scams like this have occurred on YouTube before, with random channels being hacked to display Bitcoin promotions. Steve Wozniak is suing YouTube over that event, since his likeness was used to promote the Bitcoin fraud.
  
  Read on AppleInsider

  This is not www(dot)2021(dot)apple(dot)org. apple(dot)org is a valid domain, apparently not related to Apple. 
  
  The picture already shows the fake domain as "2021apple", without the dot in between.

  edited September 2021
• Reply 8 of 16

  DAalseth Posts: 2,783member

  September 21, 2021 8:17PM

  Wow a scam involving Bitcoin. Who would have thought. I’m shocked, SHOCKED I tell you
  /S

  
• Reply 9 of 16

  mr lizard Posts: 354member

  September 21, 2021 10:19PM

  shareef777 said:

  "This was a scam, but there was just enough care taken to convince people it was legitimate."

  
  

  HOW!!!!!? If a site says, gimme money and I'll give you back more money, there's a zero percent chance of legitimacy involved there.

  You might think it’s 0%, but it worked. 

  
• Reply 10 of 16

  sflocal Posts: 6,093member

  September 21, 2021 10:33PM

  mr lizard said:

  shareef777 said:

  "This was a scam, but there was just enough care taken to convince people it was legitimate."

  
  

  HOW!!!!!? If a site says, gimme money and I'll give you back more money, there's a zero percent chance of legitimacy involved there.

  You might think it’s 0%, but it worked. 

  Exactly.  I think a majority of garbage apps/software/products are out there because they bank on that percentage of people that just don't know how to use their brains.

  
• Reply 11 of 16

  bloggerblog Posts: 2,464member

  September 22, 2021 12:50AM

  How does apple.org not belong to Apple? I would assume Apple buys all of Apple dot domains to avoid scammers and wannabes. 
• Reply 12 of 16

  FileMakerFeller Posts: 1,546member

  September 22, 2021 1:04AM

  bloggerblog said:

  How does apple.org not belong to Apple? I would assume Apple buys all of Apple dot domains to avoid scammers and wannabes. 

  As pointed out by Macplusplus, the domain is 2021apple.org
  
  There is minimal regulation of domain names (and most regulation is country-specific), so uniqueness is all that counts. The possibilities are endless, so there's no way even Apple with all its resources could block this particular approach.

  
• Reply 13 of 16

  bloggerblog Posts: 2,464member

  September 22, 2021 6:59AM

  FileMakerFeller said:

  bloggerblog said:

  How does apple.org not belong to Apple? I would assume Apple buys all of Apple dot domains to avoid scammers and wannabes. 

  As pointed out by Macplusplus, the domain is 2021apple.org
  
  There is minimal regulation of domain names (and most regulation is country-specific), so uniqueness is all that counts. The possibilities are endless, so there's no way even Apple with all its resources could block this particular approach.

  The domain is 2021.Apple.org  I haven’t been working with domains for years now, but doesn’t that mean the the domain falls under Apple.org and the 2021 is just a branch?
• Reply 14 of 16

  lkrupp Posts: 10,557member

  September 22, 2021 12:25PM

  Forrest Gump: “My mamma says stupid is as stupid does.”
  
  Jim White (local St. Louis radio personality): “You can’t fix stupid.”
  
  Google sycophants on AppleInsider: “iPhone users are stupid."
  
  
  
  
  

  
• Reply 15 of 16

  beowulfschmidt Posts: 2,132member

  September 22, 2021 2:19PM

  mr lizard said:

  shareef777 said:

  "This was a scam, but there was just enough care taken to convince people it was legitimate."

  
  

  HOW!!!!!? If a site says, gimme money and I'll give you back more money, there's a zero percent chance of legitimacy involved there.

  You might think it’s 0%, but it worked. 

  The OP said there was a zero percent chance of legitimacy, not a zero percent chance of people falling for it.

  
• Reply 16 of 16

  mr lizard Posts: 354member

  September 22, 2021 9:41PM

  beowulfschmidt said:

  mr lizard said:

  shareef777 said:

  "This was a scam, but there was just enough care taken to convince people it was legitimate."

  
  

  HOW!!!!!? If a site says, gimme money and I'll give you back more money, there's a zero percent chance of legitimacy involved there.

  You might think it’s 0%, but it worked. 

  The OP said there was a zero percent chance of legitimacy, not a zero percent chance of people falling for it.

  To fall for it, people need to think it’s legitimate. 

  
  

  No one says “this is definitely without doubt a scam. I’m in.”