Linus Tech Tips Is The Latest YouTube Channel Getting Elon Musk Bombed By Crypto Scammers – SlashGear

Several popular YouTube accounts have been hacked and used to promote cryptocurrency scams, or nudge viewers towards downloading malicious software, in recent weeks. Hackers usually target accounts with over 100,000 subscribers in an attempt to reach a large audience with their content. Usually, the account owner notices or is informed, and the account is locked down within a few hours. However, that isn’t always the case.

Sometimes scammers target an account with a large subscriber base that either only posts every few months or is completely inactive. In these cases, the account can be hijacked for a long time before anyone notices that something is wrong. AI is also playing a part in these scams. 

The bad actors responsible have been observed using AI-generated videos of “trustworthy-looking” people to help convince their victims to play along. The videos are often based around “cracking” various kinds of subscription software, like Adobe Creative Suite. However, instead of a “crack” allowing the viewer to access the software for free, the link below the video often contains malware.

YouTube is aware of the issue, and is working to stamp it out, but don’t just rely on YouTube. You should keep safe by following basic online safety advice like never click a link you don’t trust, don’t download anything morally dubious, and make sure you use something like a password manager to keep your accounts safe.