Elon Musk and MrBeast Crypto Casino Scams: How Deepfake Ads Work

Elon Musk does not run a crypto casino, and neither does MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson). The videos in which they appear to launch a “new bitcoin casino” and hand out a promo code are deepfakes: footage and voices altered with generative software to sell a scam. Almost every version follows one script. The site credits you a free balance, lets you “win”, and then demands a crypto deposit before it will release anything. That deposit is the theft, and no withdrawal ever follows.

This guide shows how the celebrity crypto casino scam works, the documented cases behind it, the warning signs, what to do if you have already paid, and how to check whether a casino is real. Nothing here depends on which famous face the next video uses: the mechanics stay the same. For the basics of how a genuine site works, start with our crypto gambling guides.

Do Elon Musk or MrBeast own a crypto casino?

No. Neither has launched, owns or runs an online casino or a casino app, and any site that claims otherwise is lying. Snopes rated the “MrBeast casino app” claim a scam in May 2024 and reported that he has never created or endorsed a gambling app. When a deepfake ad of him spread on TikTok in October 2023, MrBeast posted on X that “lots of people are getting this deepfake scam ad of me” and called it “a serious problem”.

Real ventures are easy to confuse with fake ones, so two facts help. X, the platform Musk owns, named Polymarket its official prediction market partner in June 2025; that is a commercial deal between two companies, not a Musk casino, and it does not involve promo codes or free bitcoin. Some celebrities do have genuine paid deals with gambling brands, for example Drake’s partnership with Stake, announced in March 2022. A genuine deal is announced by the operator itself, on its own site and channels, and never comes with a code that unlocks “free” crypto in exchange for a deposit.

How the celebrity crypto casino scam works

1. The ad or video. A short clip appears on TikTok, YouTube (often a fake “live stream”), Instagram, Facebook, Telegram or X. A famous person seems to announce a new crypto casino or giveaway and reads out a promo code.
2. The site. The link leads to a polished casino or “exchange” with invented statistics such as millions of players and billions paid out.
3. The free balance. You sign up with an email address and password, enter the code, and a large balance appears: often several hundred to several thousand dollars in BTC or USDT.
4. The fake wins. Games on the site tend to pay, which makes the balance grow and the offer feel real.
5. The trap. When you request a withdrawal, the site says the account must first be “activated” or “verified” with a minimum deposit in crypto.
6. The squeeze. After the first payment come more fees: “tax”, “network fee”, “anti-money-laundering check”, “VIP upgrade”. Each one is another transfer to the scammer.
7. The exit. Support stops replying, and the account is locked or the site disappears and reappears under a new domain.

The balance never existed. It is a number in a database the scammers control, and nothing on the site can ever be withdrawn.

Where this script came from

The promo-code trick started on fake crypto exchanges before it moved to fake casinos. In September 2023, BleepingComputer documented TikTok being flooded with deepfake Elon Musk videos that promised free bitcoin through promo codes on bogus trading sites. Victims saw about 0.34 BTC added to their accounts, then had to deposit 0.005 BTC (roughly $132 at the time) to “activate” withdrawals. The same sites also asked for identity documents, which can be used to attack your real accounts elsewhere.

Security researchers at MalwareTips have since documented the same sequence on sites dressed as crypto casinos, with deepfakes of Elon Musk, MrBeast, Bill Gates and Donald Trump, sign-up with only an email and a promo code, fake balances, games that let you win, and a deposit demand at the cashier.

Documented cases

The pattern behind all four is the same: a trusted face, a deadline, and money that only flows one way.

How big is the problem?

Exact figures for fake casinos alone do not exist, because victims report them as investment, giveaway or impersonation fraud. The wider numbers show the scale:

• The US Federal Trade Commission says consumers reported losing $16 billion to fraud in 2025, the highest on record and 25% more than in 2024, with $3.5 billion lost to imposter scams. In its 2024 data the FTC noted that people lost more through bank transfers and cryptocurrency than through all other payment methods combined.
• The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center warned in December 2024 that criminals use generative tools to create images of celebrities promoting fake products and videos for “fictitious or misleading promotional materials for investment fraud schemes”.
• In Australia, figures from the National Anti-Scam Centre and ASIC published in August 2026 linked reports of impersonated public figures in investment scams to $7.4 million in losses in the 2026 financial year.

What platforms say they are doing

Meta defines “celeb-bait” as scammers using images of public figures “to bait people into engaging with ads that lead to scam websites”. Since October 2024 it has tested facial recognition that compares faces in suspected scam ads with the public figure’s own profile pictures and blocks matches; it says user reports of celeb-bait ads fell 22% globally in the first half of 2025. TikTok’s ad policy requires realistic synthetic media to be clearly labelled. None of this is complete: the Snopes and iMore cases above were paid ads that passed review, so a video being an “ad” proves nothing.

Warning signs of a fake crypto casino

• A celebrity “launch”. Real casinos do not get launched in a short social clip with a famous person reading a promo code.
• Free money for a code. No legitimate casino credits hundreds or thousands of dollars of withdrawable crypto for typing a code.
• Deposit to withdraw. A demand to pay before you can withdraw money the site says you already own is the clearest sign of fraud. Real casinos deduct their fees, if any, from the withdrawal itself.
• “Taxes” paid to the site. Casinos do not collect your personal income tax in crypto before a payout.
• No company or licence. No operating company, no licence number, or a licence that does not appear on the regulator’s register.
• New domain, big numbers. A site registered weeks ago that claims tens of millions of players.
• Pressure. Countdown timers, “only the first 10,000 viewers”, or a live chat that rushes you.
• Odd video details. Lips out of sync, a flat or robotic voice, comments switched off, or a channel name that does not match its history.

Fake casino vs real casino, side by side

The follow-up: Telegram groups and “account managers”

Many victims are moved from the site to a Telegram or WhatsApp chat with a friendly “account manager” or a group full of members posting big wins. Those members are usually the scammers themselves or bots. The manager’s job is to keep you paying: one more fee, a “VIP” tier that unlocks faster payouts, or a bigger deposit to reach a withdrawal threshold. If someone you met through a casino ad starts guiding your payments in private messages, stop and treat everything they have said as part of the scam.

How to check whether a crypto casino is real

1. Find the operator. A real casino names its company in the footer and terms, for example Medium Rare N.V. for Stake or Gareton B.V. for BitStarz.
2. Verify the licence yourself. Look the number up on the regulator’s own register, or use the licence seal on the site and check that it opens on the regulator’s domain. Our licence guides show where to check for Curaçao, Anjouan and the Tobique Gaming Commission.
3. Read the withdrawal terms. Real terms list limits, processing times and when ID can be requested. No real terms say you must deposit to unlock a bonus balance you never paid for.
4. Search independently. Search the domain name plus “scam” and check when it was registered. Do not trust testimonials on the site itself.
5. Start small. At any new casino, make a small deposit and a small withdrawal before anything larger.

If you want to know what a normal crypto casino looks like, our guide what is a crypto casino explains deposits, withdrawals, licences and KYC, and our rating method shows what we check before a brand appears on our bitcoin casino list.

Already paid? What to do now

1. Stop sending money. Every new “fee” is another loss. The balance on the site is not real.
2. Save the evidence. Screenshot the ad, the site, your account page, the chat and every transaction ID (TXID) and wallet address you paid.
3. Tell the exchange you sent from. If the coins left a regulated exchange, report the destination address. Exchanges can sometimes flag or freeze funds that reach another regulated platform.
4. Report the ad. Use the report tool on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook or X so the account and the ad can be removed.
5. Report to the authorities. US victims can use ReportFraud.ftc.gov and the FBI’s ic3.gov. For England, Wales and Northern Ireland, Report Fraud replaced Action Fraud on 4 December 2025 (reportfraud.police.uk, 0300 123 2040). Australians can use Scamwatch or ReportCyber. In Canada, contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
6. Watch for recovery scams. Victims are often contacted next by “recovery agents” or fake lawyers who promise to get the crypto back for an upfront fee. The FTC warns not to trust anyone who says they can recover money lost in a scam for a fee.
7. Secure your accounts. If you uploaded ID or reused a password, change passwords, turn on two-factor authentication and watch your bank and exchange accounts.

Crypto transfers cannot be reversed, so prevention is the only reliable protection. If losing money has turned into chasing it, our responsible gambling page lists free support, including Gamblers Anonymous.

Which crypto does Elon Musk promote, and does he have his own coin?

Musk has talked up Dogecoin for years, and in January 2022 Tesla began accepting DOGE for some merchandise. That is the extent of it: Musk has no official coin, and tokens named after him, his companies or his pets are launched by other people. In August 2024 a US federal judge dismissed a $258 billion lawsuit that accused Musk of running a Dogecoin pyramid scheme, finding that his posts were puffery rather than statements of fact.

Scammers borrow all of this. A fake casino may claim to pay out in “Musk’s coin”, show a Dogecoin logo, or say the giveaway celebrates a Tesla or SpaceX event. None of it is a sign of a real offer. Musk does not hand out money to people who ask, on X or anywhere else, and no “Elon Musk promo code” exists.

Does MrBeast have a crypto coin or an app that pays real money?

MrBeast is known for giving away real money and prizes in his videos, which is exactly why scammers use his face. His real giveaways run through his own channels and never ask you to pay, deposit crypto or install a casino app. He has not launched a crypto casino or a casino coin.

Searches such as “Mr Beast casino app download”, “Mr Beast casino APK”, “Mr Beast casino login” or “Mr Beast casino promo code no deposit” all lead to the same kind of site. An APK installed from outside the official app stores skips the store’s security checks and can carry malware that steals passwords or wallet keys, and a “no deposit” code that later needs a deposit to unlock is the scam described above.

Why crypto makes these scams attractive

Scammers prefer crypto for three reasons. Payments are final, with no chargeback. Wallet addresses can be created in seconds and abandoned just as fast. Victims in any country can pay without a bank asking questions. The same features make legitimate crypto casinos fast, which is why the checks above matter more than the brand name in a video.

Younger adults are not safe just because they know the internet. In its 2022 data spotlight on crypto fraud, the FTC found that people aged 20 to 49 were more than three times as likely as older age groups to report losing money to a cryptocurrency scam, and that nearly half of the people who reported such a loss said it started with an ad, post or message on social media. Gaming, streaming and short-video audiences are exactly where celebrity casino clips circulate, so it is worth sharing the warning signs with friends and family who play.

Fake versions of other hyped ideas follow the same playbook. A site calling itself a “decentralized casino” or “web3 casino” can be just as fake; our guide to decentralized casinos explains how real smart-contract games work and what to check.

Celebrity crypto casino scam FAQ

Does Elon Musk have a crypto casino?

No. Elon Musk does not own or run any crypto casino. Videos showing him launching a casino or giving out a bitcoin promo code are deepfakes made to steal deposits.

Is the MrBeast casino app real?

No. MrBeast has not created or endorsed any gambling app. Apps and sites using his face or voice, such as “The Beast Plinko”, were scams promoted with deepfake videos.

Is the Elon Musk crypto casino real?

No. There is no Elon Musk crypto casino. Sites and videos that say otherwise use deepfakes and promo codes to get you to deposit crypto, and that deposit is stolen.

Does Elon Musk have an official crypto coin?

No. Musk has promoted Dogecoin and Tesla accepts DOGE for some merchandise, but he has no official coin of his own. Tokens and casino “coins” using his name are made by other people.

Does MrBeast have an app that pays real money?

No. MrBeast gives away money and prizes in his own videos, but he has no gambling or crypto app. Casino apps using his name or a deepfake of his voice are scams.

Why does the site ask me to deposit before I can withdraw?

Because the deposit is the scam. The free balance is fake, and the “activation” deposit, “tax” or “fee” goes straight to the criminals. A real casino never requires a new deposit to release money it owes you.

Can I get my crypto back from a fake casino?

Usually not, because blockchain payments cannot be reversed. Report the transaction to the exchange you used and to the police or fraud authority in your country, and ignore anyone who offers to recover the funds for an upfront fee.

How can I spot a deepfake video?

Look for lips that do not match the words, a flat or robotic voice, odd blinking or lighting, comments turned off, and a channel or account that recently changed its name. The safest test is simpler: no real celebrity gives away free crypto in exchange for a deposit.