YouTube, according to reports yesterday, accidentally ran a malicious ad for the Electrum Bitcoin Wallet (BTC).
Users who were interested in the ad were redirected to a malicious link using a common scam method called typosquatting or URL hijacking. A user named mrsxeplatypus warned the public about a malicious campaign being promoted through Electrum and described how the scam ad worked:
“The malicious ad is disguised to look like a real Electrum ad […] It still directs you to the correct link (electrum.org) in the video, but when you click on the ad, the download of the malicious EXE file . The URL is elecktrum.org, not electrum.org.”
Google ,which is the legal owner of YouTube, has already taken appropriate action against malicious advertising.
In February, users of the Electrum cryptocurrency wallets and MyEtherWallet reported experiencing phishing attacks. A Reddit user spotted a phishing scam attempting to steal sensitive data from Electrum customers, posing as a security update.
This particular phishing emailessentially required an upgrade to the new security version Electrum 4.0.0. while the latest version of the wallet at the time was Electrum 3.3.3.
Earlier in March, a Google Chrome browser extension called NoCoin tricked 230 users into participating in a fake airdrop from cryptocurrency exchange Huobi. The hackers had intentionally disguised the malicious extension to look like a tool that protects users from cryptojacking malware.
