A Huge Crypto Scam Botnet On Twitter Was Discovered By Researchers In 2018

Ollie Hurst – Cryptocurrency Expert

A lot of researchers were busy in 2018 figuring out the enormous botnet that was spreading a cryptocurrency giveaway scam during the spike in worldwide Bitcoin investing. It was later revealed by ITPro that when they searched 88 million Twitter accounts using machine learning for identifying bots and other malicious acts, they found 15,000 bots in a three-tiered structure spreading the scam. This is a huge number considering it took place across a three-month time span, May to July. It was also noticeable that a particular network of more than 15,000 bots in a three-tiered structure was multiplying the fake cryptocurrency giveaways.

How the botnet works?

The Duo team was able to describe how the botnet works. They stated that first a spoof, a copycat of the original, is created. Then the bots reply to the tweets posted by the real account making it seem like they are legitimate, making the best effort to appear original. This botnet even forms “amplification bots” (other fake accounts) to provide “likes” on the fake tweets replies. All of this convinces users that the scams are legitimate and gain the same popularity, especially when they pose as a legitimate crypto market investment.

Consequently, Twitter has been trying to be vigilant about such cryptocurrency scammers. Moreover, Duo wrapped up by claiming that botnets were still very active and can be easily noticed by “straightforward analysis.” However, new techniques are being developed to maintain the security of all social media sites and apps.

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