Linus Tech Tips’ YouTube account was hacked to promote crypto scams
The hugely popular YouTube channel Linus Tech Tips has been hacked for uploading live streams of cryptocurrency scams.
On March 23, 2023, Linus Tech Tips, a tech review YouTube channel with over 15 million subscribers, was hacked.
The actors behind the hack have now renamed the YouTube channel, and are using it to upload live streams of crypto scam videos.
The uploaded videos feature Elon Musk, Tesla and SpaceX CEO, discussing cryptocurrency with Twitter founder Jack Dorsey. The video shown above was originally part of The B Word conference, hosted by Ark Invest.
Along with the main channel, two other Linus Media Group channels, TechLinked and Techquickie, were hacked. The Techquickie channel has been renamed “Tesla” and live videos of Musk discussing crypto are also being uploaded.
It also appears that the malicious actors responsible for the hack have uploaded delisted Linus Tech Tips videos. Some of the published videos contain instructions such as “**DO NOT USE**” and “Do not upload” in the titles.
The creator and owner of Linus Tech Tips, Linus Sebastian, tweeted briefly to let followers know that he was aware of the hack, but has yet to say anything more.
Linus’ technical tips are still down
At the time of writing, the Linus Tech Tips channel is still down and cannot be accessed by YouTube users. Attempting to search for the channel results in a YouTube 404 error page.
The page that directs to the Linus Tech Tips channel also displays a message notifying users that the channel has been terminated for violating the Community Guidelines.
When you attempted to access one of the crypto scam uploads on the channel, it was found to have been taken due to account closure. The scam videos that have been uploaded cannot be accessed at the moment, suggesting that YouTube has been working to stop the hackers in their tracks.
This hack comes after a series of YouTube channel attacks
Linus Tech Tips is not the first popular YouTube channel to be hacked. Throughout 2022 and 2023, a number of high-profile accounts have been affected by hackers, including the official British Army YouTube channel.
In the British Army channel hack, cryptocurrency scams were once again promoted by malicious actors. The organization’s Twitter account was also hacked, and its profile name, picture, and background image were changed to resemble affiliation with the “Possessed” NFT project, launched by PSSSD labs in early 2022.
YouTube may need additional security measures
With many channels being hacked in the past year, many are wondering how YouTube will handle this major security issue. Will more be done to protect accounts or reduce damage during hacks? Time will tell.
