According to videos displayed in Instagram ads, MrBeast purportedly said, “It’s already become a problem. No one believes that such a game exists.”
In May 2024, Meta approved and accepted money for scam ads displayed to Instagram users claiming famous YouTuber MrBeast launched a casino game mobile app named “The Beast Plinko.” MrBeast’s real name is Jimmy Donaldson.
However, no such casino game app exists on the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Further, MrBeast has never created or endorsed any gambling mobile apps.
The Instagram ads served to users featured videos with deepfake technology for the visuals and artificial-intelligence generated audio for the vocals. All of the videos followed the same format. The videos began with one recognizable cable news host appearing to speak about a MrBeast-created casino game. Interview clips with a famous celebrity and MrBeast followed the cable news host. The videos ended with the same cable news host encouraging users to click a download link.
For example, different versions of the scam videos made it appear as if CNN host Laura Coates or Fox News hosts Laura Ingraham or Sean Hannity spent time on their primetime TV shows broadcasting news about MrBeast’s purported casino app.
In the scam video ads, deepfake technology and AI-created vocals made it appear as if Coates, Ingraham or Hannity said the words, “The richest man on the internet, who has paid the bills of hundreds of thousands of people around the world, decided to open his own online casino where everyone wins. In one of his videos, he showed us his safe which stores funds for all players of his online casino. And in an interview with another famous blogger, MrBeast told about his motives.”
Next, the videos displayed deepfake, AI-enhanced endorsements of the app from either actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, “divisive social media star” Andrew Tate or “Dude Perfect” podcast host Tyler Toney.
Depending on the video, scammers made it appear Johnson, Tate or Toney said, “I installed an app from MrBeast on my phone. The thing is, I didn’t put more than $50 into it. I lost count of how many times I won money there. One hour after installing it, I earned $4,000. And here’s the interesting thing: I almost never lost. What’s the point? Why create a game like this?”
Additionally, scammers also manipulated the image and likeness of MrBeast himself with another deepfake, AI-enhanced video clip in which he purportedly said, “It’s already become a problem. No one believes that such a game exists. But in the past, people didn’t believe it when I gave them a bag with $10,000. I just show everyone this game on my phone and say, ‘Look, it’s true. I just invented a new way to give away money.'”
All of the scam video ads we reviewed ended with Coates, Ingraham or Hannity purportedly saying, “Thank you very much MrBeast. I’ll try your game. Beware of fakes. Download the original application at the link below the video.”
The links in the scam ads directed users to pseville.fun – a website designed to fool users into believing they were looking at the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. The scam website displayed a purported download link for the casino game “The Beast Plinko” and said it was created by “Beast Group.”
However, again, no such game exists.
Downloading files from scam websites can potentially result in a number of different undesirable outcomes for users and their devices. If any readers fell for this scam or any similar scams, we recommend an article from the FTC titled, “What To Do if You Were Scammed.” Similarly, the BBB also published, “BBB Tip: Recovering from a Scam.”
For further reading, we recommend our article titled, “How To Spot a Deepfake.”
