Scam of the day – May 29, 2024 – Scammers Exploiting YouTube

by | May 28, 2024 | Scam of the day

Whatever is popular with many people is going to be popular with scammers and so it should come as no surprise that scammers are using YouTube as a platform for perpetrating a wide variety of scams.  More than 2.7 billion people use YouTube making it the third most popular app behind Google and Facebook, both of which are also prime platforms for scammers.  Recently the security company Avast issued a report in which it detailed how scammers utilize YouTube.

Scammers send phishing emails to YouTube creators proposing phony collaboration opportunities and then send malware infected links to them.  Scammers also lure people into clicking on video descriptions that have been infected with malicious links and trick them into downloading the malware.  In other instances the scammers even hack entire YouTube channels and use them to spread a wide variety of scams, such as cryptocurrency scams which appear on YouTube in large number.

With the ease and availability of AI, deepfake videos are dramatically increasing on YouTube to lure people into scams, particularly cryptocurrency scams. In my Scam of the day of July 15, 2023 I first told you about one particular deepfake investment scam on YouTube where a deepfaked CEO for a phony investment company tried to lure people into a cryptocurrency investment scam.

TIPS

Remember my motto: “Trust me, you can’t trust anyone.”  Many of us know not to trust an email, text message or phone call and never click on a link, download an attachment, make a payment or provide personal information in response to any of those modes of communication unless you have absolutely confirmed the legitimacy of the communication.  Now you need to extend that skepticism to YouTube videos.  In particular YouTube is not the place to go for investment advice.  It is also important to remember that you should never  invest in something that you do not completely understand.  This was a mistake that many of Bernie Madoff’s victims made.    You also may want to check out the SEC’s investor education website at www.investor.gov.  Scammers can be very convincing and it may sound like there is a great opportunity for someone to make some money, but you must be careful that the person making money is not the scam artist taking yours. Investing with someone merely because you trust them because you have seen them on YouTube is dangerous.

Also, before investing with anyone, you should investigate the person offering to sell you the investment with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Central Registration Depository.  This will tell you if the broker is licensed and if there have been disciplinary procedures against him or her.  You can also check with your own state’s securities regulation office for similar information.  Many investment advisers will not be required to register with the SEC, but are required to register with your individual state’s securities regulators.   You can find your state’s agency by going to the website of the North American Securities Administrators Association. https://www.nasaa.org/investor-education/how-to-check-your-broker-or-investment-adviser/ Many investment advisers will not be required to register with the SEC, but are required to register with your individual state securities regulators.  You should also check with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for information about the particular  investment adviser. https://www.finra.org/investors/protect-your-money/ask-and-check

If you are not a subscriber to Scamicide.com and would like to receive daily emails with the Scam of the day, all you need to do is to go to the bottom of the initial page of http://www.scamicide.com and click on the tab that states “Sign up for this blog.”

Phishing, smishing, spear phishing. They may seem like odd terms with which you may barely be familiar, but scammers use these effective techniques to reach out by phone or email to their targeted victims, and the results can be disastrous. Interestingly, according to the FTC, people lose the most money to scams that start on the phone. It can seem almost impossible to determine if a scammer is contacting you. But now there is an easy-to-use new online tool called ScamAssist® from Iris® Powered by Generali that allows you to submit suspicious solicitations electronically or by phone. Using Iris’ team of trained experts and rigorous technology, ScamAssist will analyze the messages before sending a detailed assessment of how likely it is to be a scam and recommendations for minimizing potential damage. It is easy to use and dependable. While Iris® Powered by Generali doesn’t offer ScamAssist for direct purchase, if you’re a business professional looking to fill a product gap in your portfolio and want to provide customers a service they’ll truly value, contact Iris to learn how you can get started. Join a growing list of companies – such as major retailers like Staples – that have recognized that providing ScamAssist to its customers helps protect them and generates goodwill.