YouTube Draws Criticism as Crypto Scam Hits Linus Tech Tips, Featuring Elon Musk

Linus Tech Tips hacked to endorse Elon Muskโ€™s fake crypto giveaway as YouTube gets called out for slow response.

Big smartphone featuring Elon Musk's face is shown in a white background as a confused viewers tries to comprehend if the broadcast is authentic.
  • The most-watched tech channel, Linus Tech Tips, got hacked and promoted two scams. 
  • The counterfeit โ€œSpecial Crypto Giveawayโ€ was broadcasted to thousands of people.
  • Twitter is outraged about YouTube not taking cautionary measures to prevent phishing.

Linus Sebastian, one of the most popular content creators on YouTube, fell victim to the ongoing scourge of relentless crypto scammers. The fraudsters hacked his Linus Tech Tips channel in the early hours of Friday morning. Over 15 million subscribers expected to see a new video from Linus, but many were left open-mouthed when YouTube didnโ€™t return any results for the channel.

Indeed, the famed YouTuber and computer tech virtuoso has been stuck in the process of uploading a new video and even posted a message on Twitter saying, โ€œwake me up when I have a channel to upload to.โ€

Crypto Scams Featuring Elon Musk – Common Practice?

Linus’ phishing attack happened in a manner that resembled a trend from crypto hackers in 2022. After taking over the account, the criminals posted two counterfeit videos. One featured Elon Musk nodding his head to music during a โ€œfree giveaway campaignโ€ which aimed to swindle subscribers out of their money.

Sponsored

The second scam video took advantage of trending keywords related to artificial intelligence. The video โ€œOpenAI ChatGPT-4: The Game-Changing AI Technologyโ€ lured the YouTube audience into thinking that a quick investment in the counterfeit AI coin would bring juicy returns.

The issue was resolved around seven hours after the hack, and the popular technology specialist released a new video regarding the unpleasant situation. While the reasons behind the hack are still unclear, Linus Sebastian didnโ€™t lose his sense of humor and explained what happened with a ’90s meme.

YouTube in the Hot Seat for Slow Motion

Scams carried out in a similar manner have been going on for months, with high-profile YouTube accounts often targeted. Last year, the British Armyโ€™s Twitter and YouTube accounts were stolen to promote a fake NFT collection.

Several media personalities contacted YouTube about the issue, but not enough has been done.

Finally, itโ€™s unknown how many people actually fell for the bait, as neither YouTube nor Linus Tech Tips commented on the damage done to the viewers.

On The Flipside

  • According to Crypto Twitter, ChatGPT suspects that the Linus Tech Tips scam was a publicity stunt by the YouTube star himself.
  • Linus Sebastian hadnโ€™t mentioned the financial damage caused to the victims of this hack nor taken any responsibility for the incident.

Why You Should Care

Linus Tech Tips is one of the most popular technology-related channels on YouTube. Crypto-related hacks and phishing scams on YouTube are increasing due to a lack of security.

Read the latest crypto news on DailyCoin:

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This article is for information purposes only and should not be considered trading or investment advice. Nothing herein shall be construed as financial, legal, or tax advice. Trading forex, cryptocurrencies, and CFDs pose a considerable risk of loss.

Author
Tadas Klimasevskis

Tadas Klimaลกevskis is a DailyCoin Journalist, covering memecoins & latest developments. Tadas has moderate holdings in SHIB, HBAR, LTC, MATIC and a selection of low-cap meme currencies.

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