Fake YouTube AI trading bot tutorial drains 224 wallets of $517,000 in ETH
4KTV · x · 2026-09-21
Scammers uploaded YouTube tutorials showing people how to build an AI crypto trading bot with Claude — no phishing links needed. Victims copied the code, deployed the smart contract, funded it from their own wallets, and approved every transaction themselves. The "trading bot" had no trading logic at all; it simply sent ETH to the scammers. In total 224 wallets lost 274.6 ETH ($517,000), with a median loss of 1 ETH. Some victims even got an error afterward telling them to deposit another 50% to "fix" the bot.
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