Multiple YouTube channels under the Linus Media Group (LMG) appear to have been taken down after being hacked by crypto scammers. Linus' main channel, Tech Tips , which has over 15 million subscribers, is down, as are the TechQuickie and TechLinked channels. All three appear to have been compromised by the same hackers.
The channels briefly went online Thursday morning, promoting bizarre livestreams that featured pre-recorded footage of tech figures like Elon Musk and Jack Dorsey talking about crypto. The streams redirect to pages embedded with cryptocurrency scams.
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Although the accounts have been suspended for now, the hackers revealed multiple videos on the channel that were private, including draft approval videos for sponsors and test clips. It's unclear when the account will be restored or how many videos will be restored, but LMG is aware of the situation.
LMG isn't the first to face this kind of intrusion. In recent years, several fake VEVO channels have popped up around major album releases promoting the same fake livestreams. Some of the artists involved included Kendrick Lamar and Drake.
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These types of scams can spread very quickly because of the way they are designed. When you are subscribed to a channel, YouTube sends you a notification for the livestream that is starting, unlike videos. Scammers generally change the name and icon on the channel and because of the publicity, verified channels carry a badge indicating that the channel is legitimate.
This was the case with LMG. Their main channel, Tech Tips, kept their logo and branding, but the smaller channels changed to the Tesla. The channel names are usually changed to “teslaliveonline” or something similar.
YouTube has seen a surge in hacks by crypto scammers in recent years, and the company has yet to add a feature to mitigate the problem. Given the widespread nature of the hacks and the popular channels they target, it's clear that the platform needs features to reduce the potential and devastating effects of a hack like this.
LMG's hacked channels are back online.
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source of information:digitaltrends.com
