YouTuber With 13 Million Subscribers Hacked By Crypto Scammers; Here’s how much they stole
Popular YouTuber Scuba Jake has confirmed the hacking of his channel with over 13 million subscribers and 1.75 billion views since the channel was created in 2011. The September 9 incident saw crypto scammers take over the channel and attempt to scam unsuspecting followers into a fake giveaway involving Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).
An analysis by Finbold indicates that the fraudsters got away with 1.01 BTC, equivalent to about $21,000 in the fake crypto payout. The analysis was based on QR codes shared by scammers for users to scan before sending the cryptocurrencies.
According to Blockchain.com, the shared Bitcoin wallet has recorded four transactions since its creation. The wallet received a total of 1.0107 BTC, the same amount that was also paid out.
It is worth noting that the amount lost may be higher since the scammers may have changed the wallet during the live broadcast. Elsewhere, the Ethereum wallet analysis indicates that no transaction has been made.
The scam mirrored other fraudulent incidents on YouTube where scammers use an old interview involving a well-known figure in crypto circles, republish it as a live stream and promote the fake giveaway in the info section. It is claimed that fraudsters choose the live option because it gives more credibility.
How Scammers Scam Scuba Jake Followers
During the hack, the fraudster changed Scuba Jake’s channel to “MicroStargey US”, impersonating crypto-friendly US business intelligence firm MicroStrategy.
Notably, the fraudsters hosted at least two live streams of an old video involving outgoing MicroStrategy CEO and Bitcoin crusader Michael Saylor. In this case, the scammers lured unsuspecting followers into sending cryptocurrency, believing they would receive a prize from Saylor or higher returns.
The fraudsters targeted the treasure hunting channel, possibly because of its huge following, considering that since it was created in 2011, it has accumulated over 1.7 billion views cumulatively. The channel had been restored by press time and Jake confirmed the same through an Instagram story on September 10.
Overall, cases of fraudsters exploiting YouTube have been on the rise, affecting high-profile individuals and organizations. As reported by Finbold, fraudsters also hacked the YouTube channel belonging to the South Korean government and shared a crypto video. However, the government managed to recover the account.
YouTube on the spot over crypto scams
In the past, YouTube’s crypto scam has also targeted Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA ) CEO Elon Musk. In particular, scammers have taken over various channels impersonating Musk while promising fake handouts.
The situation has resulted in Musk blasting YouTube for allegedly not doing anything to address the scam in a tweet posted on June 7, 2022. Saylor also expressed his frustration with YouTube’s lack of action with a response to the tweet.
Furthermore, research by anti-virus software firm Kaspersky revealed that in addition to hijacking YouTube channels, scammers are increasingly searching the comments section of videos to promote fake crypto services while offering low prices for certain currencies.
In particular, the bad actors usually target top trending videos and leave comments promoting a fake “break” in the crypto market with enticing statistics.
