Input Output Group, the firm behind much of Cardano‘s software, has told people to stay away from its own YouTube channel. The channel appears to have been taken over, and it started livestreaming a video of IOG founder Charles Hoskinson that Cointelegraph described as apparently AI-manipulated, promising viewers they could double their wealth.
We could not find a primary statement from IOG or an archived copy of the stream, so what was broadcast rests on Cointelegraph’s account rather than anything we have seen ourselves. Nobody has said publicly how the channel was accessed, or how long it was live.
The format is well established. A hijacked account carries the name, subscriber count and history of a real organisation, and the stream directs viewers to send coins to an address on the promise of receiving more back. The coins are not sent back, and a transaction cannot be reversed once it confirms.
If you sent anything, report it to Action Fraud and to the exchange or wallet provider you sent it from, with the transaction ID and the address. No legitimate project asks for a payment first in order to pay you more. Our guide to self-custody covers the basic checks before any transfer leaves your control.
The signals people were taught to trust, an official channel, a founder’s face and voice, a verified name, are now the cheapest part of a scam to reproduce. Whether a hijacked channel gets pulled down in ten minutes or ten hours sits largely with the platform rather than the company whose name is on it, and that gap is when the money moves.
