Crypto doesn’t have the best public image, and this week it only got worse as YouTube channels appear to have been taken over by scammers making “predictions” of cryptocurrency prices and encouraging fans to commit further scams. It seems to be a mess that has caught an unfortunate number of people.
As reported by Fr Ars Technicaa handful of YouTubers in the fighting game community have been hacked, deleting all their previous videos and replacing them with a live stream impersonating Ripple, a blockchain payments company. These live streams forecast cryptocurrency and employ this YouTuber’s platform (along with all of his subscribers) to encourage people to send money to their cryptocurrency wallet.
The hack in question impersonated brands that wanted to “sponsor” YouTubers, giving them access to a link that allowed them to access their accounts. Roofer published a video detailing their correspondence with YouTube and the process of getting the channel back. However, not everyone affected by the disease was so lucky.
Shyalso known as Alex, recently fell for the same scam and lost his channel for a few days. The channel was then removed due to “trademarks”. While we don’t know exactly what this means, it may have something to do with scammers posing as Ripple. Even after fixing the issue with YouTube Support, the Alexa channel remained deleted and likely cannot be recovered.
He has been able to access his Google account again, but the YouTube account associated with it remains deleted. The X YouTube account Confirmed that the channel will remain removed for violating “community guidelines”
Without access to your YouTube channel to explain why this happened, Alex posted a video on Xexplaining everything. He claims he was contacted by a scammer claiming to be SteelSeries. When he clicked on the NDA to check the details of that transaction, he “lost everything in 30 seconds.”
Surprisingly, it claims that this method has also managed to bypass two-factor authentication entirely, although we don’t quite know how to do it. If everything is as we remember, it suggests that 2FA is no longer the last bastion of user account security and is probably a good reminder to keep up to date with the latest internet security advice.
Being skeptical of the things sent to you is very vital, and checking the links is perhaps the most vital part. We hope there is some resolution for these huge channels, but as a viewer, it’s also vital to be vigilant about what you find on your YouTube channel. Now is as good a time as any to improve your cybersecurity skills.
