Online scammers have used Tesla CEO Elon Musk's name in various bitcoin scams to obtain more than $2 million in illicit funds, according to a ZDNet report

Cybersecurity firm Adaptiv has discovered 66 bitcoin vanity addresses using the tech billionaire's name in fake giveaways over the past few months

Bitcoin vanity addresses can be customized with different words, allowing cybercriminals to use these addresses to make their scams appear legitimate

In the case of Elon Musk, according to ZDNet, criminals have created addresses such as "1MuskPsV7BnuvMuHGWmmXUyXKjxp3vLZX6" and "1ELonMUsKZpVr5Xok8abiXhhqGbdrnK5C"

Justin Lister, CEO of Adaptiv, worked with BitcoinAbuse (a website that tracks bitcoin addresses used for ransomware, extortion, and fraud) to investigate bitcoin vanity addresses that use mask names as part of their scams over a two We investigated over a period of two months

We found that scammers began creating these addresses at the end of April, earning an estimated 214 bitcoins (roughly $2 million) through online gift scams

To distribute these scams, cybercriminals hacked YouTube accounts with many followers, created new account names, and added branding to make them appear to be used by celebrities

The hackers then live-streamed through the hacked accounts, convincing users to give up their bitcoins in exchange for a profit To participate in the fake giveaway, users had to transfer bitcoins from an address in the live stream

ZDNet reports that the livestream coincided with an actual celebrity event The hackers then used YouTube account names associated with Elon Musk, his company, and his news channel to make the convention appear legitimate

The scammers likely used Musk's name and company because of his regular appearances in the news Most recently, his company SpaceX made headlines around the world when it sent a rocket into space carrying NASA astronauts