YouTube, like any other website, is no exception to people or bots scamming other users. This article documents and annotates the most commonly promoted scams on YouTube, from least to most malicious.
Scams are disseminated on YouTube through fake videos, shorts, streams, botted comment, unmoderated advertisements, AdSense banner ads, and hacked or fake channels. They often attempt to target the vulnerable (such as elderly people, ESL speakers, young children, users inexperienced with technology and online culture) or people who do not look into the authenticity of online content.[1]
It is strongly advised that readers be wary of these scams on YouTube and elsewhere on the internet, and that they do not fall for them nor interact with them in any capacity, even out of curiosity or in an attempt to "troll" the scammers.
Types of scams[]
Survey scam[]
Survey scams involve falsified advertisements that direct users to fill out a survey or form, typically in exchange for nonexistent "free" prizes such as large sums of money, in-app premium currency (such as Robux, the virtual currency of Roblox), giveaways of expensive goods such as gift cards or phones, or video games and software that otherwise cost money or cannot be installed on mobile devices such as Grand Theft Auto V.[2][3]
A typical survey scam has the user fill out a form for these "prizes", as well as a "human verification form" to confirm the user is not a bot; this usually requires the user to complete more surveys, visit websites, or install applications to complete tasks. Sometimes, survey scams may not even involve a survey, but rather simply direct users to the aforementioned "verification" step. To appear trustworthy, they sometimes pretend to be organized by high-profile or popular YouTubers, often those who have a large community presence or some history of philanthropy or giveaways, such as MrBeast.
Most survey scams are intended to generate revenue for the scammer by coaxing the user into viewing advertisements, visiting sites, and completing tasks in applications, inflicting little harm aside on users aside from wasting their time. However, malicious survey scams may attempt to trick users into entering their credit card information, downloading virus-ridden malware, or visiting data-scraping websites, usually under the false pretense that no money will be charged and it is simply to verify the user's identity or ensure they can receive their prize.[2][4] Survey scams one of the most common scams uploaded to hacked channels.
Dating scam[]
Dating scams involve websites that masquerade as dating sites offering false promises of relationships, hookups, sexually explicit content, or companionship. These typically target adult males and sometimes go into specifics, such as single women from certain demographics and regions or services such as OnlyFans-esque paid content.[5]
A common variant of the scam involves bots posting comments that pretend to be female users seeking relationships. They often have seemingly generated female names or baiting text with bypassed letters or words; suggestive profile pictures of women that are often stolen from real accounts elsewhere or (since the early 2020s) AI-generated; and post simplistic and generic comments that typically have an excessive number of emojis, have little relation to the video itself, and post links to fake dating websites or direct users to find the link on their profile.
In almost all cases, these scams lead to phishing websites or attempt to catfish gullible users.[6] It is very rare for this scam to be uploaded to hacked channels.
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Fake reply scam[]
Fake replies involve a bot that masquerades a certain YouTuber and posts comments on said YouTuber's videos (usually replies to others, hence the name). The bot pretends to be the YouTuber to gain others' trust and direct them to perform actions such as visit websites, watch certain videos not uploaded by them, download applications, or enter fake giveaways. It is very similar to the survey scam.
Being able to differentiate fake reply bots from the real YouTuber's account is generally very easy for most people. They often copy the YouTuber's profile picture and attempt to copy their name as well, but may tack additional words onto the name such as "Official", "Giveaway", "Telegram", or numbers (depending on the methods used), and typically lack any content on their channel aside from their replies. They also tend to have poor grammar and may act completely differently from a YouTuber's usual behavior and tone. Usually, most YouTubers announce giveaways in their own videos through their own accounts.
The goal of fake reply bots is usually to trick gullible users into performing actions for them, which may range from artificial popularity boosting for applications and YouTube videos, to tricking them into falling for phishing and survey scams. A classic example of this scam can be seen in Videogamedunkey's 2018 video "Youtube Comments", which includes a segment focusing on a fake reply bot named "videogamedunkey Official" that successfully tricks a user into downloading and rating their application; it can be presumed this example is of benign popularity boosting, as the application seems to have been a game.
Fake product scam[]
Fake product scams involve advertisements for physical products that can be purchased or invested in. They are typically video advertisements or occasionally standalone videos that are a few videos long, and feature "inventions" related to high technology, exercise equipment, quality-of-life goods, or even medicine and safety equipment. The advertised products tend to have fantastical claims and promises or start with supposed nonsensical "life hacks" to draw viewers in, and tend to feature deepfakes, actors, faked or contextless footage, unfound associations with prominent institutions such as universities, and buzzwords in an attempt to add to its legitimacy.[7][8] Generic anonymized examples of such advertised products include:
- Pills that are alleged to improve sexual performance, burn fat, restore eyesight, or otherwise improve health or undo defects. These are almost always placebos or, in the off-chance they do work, are simply weaker or shoddier off-the-shelf commercial drugs that offer none of their supposed benefits.
- An extremely long video, over 30 minutes long, in which a "professional" discusses and praises a product, supported by bots in the comments. However, they never actually mention what the product is, the implication being that the viewer should trust them to find out.
- A pocket-sized rescue tool used to easily break windshield glass in an emergency, invented by a former firefighter. Said tool does not actually work on most common types of glass, and the inventor is not a real person. This is a specific but particularly egregious example, as this tool could result in someone's death.
In most instances the product does in fact exist, as mentioned above, but they are almost always shoddy and significantly worse than cheaper common equivalents that can be found in most stores. Sometimes they may also cross over into a fake investment scam involving multi-level marketing and dropshipping. Such scams have existed on the internet since the 1990s (and were arguably more destructive as they were far more common and contained malware), and likewise have also existed on YouTube to some degree since its conception.
Fake investment scam[]
Fake investment scams involve websites that claim to boost one's financial gains. They often take the form of comment bots or video advertisements, and rely on deepfakes, actors, and blatant lies to trick users into investing large sums of money into their (nonexistent or fraudulent) business or cryptocurrency, usually insisting that it is a valuable high-profile project managed by successful businesspeople, with investors receiving very high profits that are often claimed to be close to a year's salary or more within mere weeks, positing the idea that investors will never need to work again if they invest. Typically, the goal of fake investment scams is to phish, defraud, or steal personal information from gullible users seeking a stable high-profit investment.[9] They may also attempt to trick users into multi-level marketing schemes or dropshipping. While quite old on the internet and even real life, these scams have been growing in prominence on YouTube since the early 2020s with the rise of cryptocurrencies and AI deepfakes making them potentially easier to fall for. This scam is very popular as an upload to hacked channels.
Eligible payment scam[]
Eligible payment scams are similar to both fake product and fake investment scams, and involve fake payments given out to people, usually citizens of a specific country, and with the equally false implication that it is part of a government program. They may also come with the implication that the payment is only available temporarily, so as to pressure users into falling for the scam lest they "miss out" on "free money". One example of a scam stated that all Americans are eligible for a payment of several thousands of dollars, without specifying what it is for.
Like fake product and fake investment scams, the goal of the eligible payment scam is to phish, defraud, or steal personal information from gullible users expecting payment. They are and have been popular across the internet, but have seen an uptick since the COVID-19 pandemic, possibly in the hopes of confusing people who believe they are eligible for economic relief funding offered by various governments at the time.
Viruses and malware[]
Viruses and malware are harmful and malicious code and software that seek to spread to and infect a device and its programs, usually without the user's knowledge or consent. They have existed since computer programs have existed, and can affect all sorts of devices, not just desktops and laptops. Acquiring viruses and malware is usually the end result of falling for scams that do not directly attempt to take money, such as survey scams, dating scams, or fake reply scams, but on YouTube they can also appear as their own type of scam, usually as either infected websites with malicious advertisements or "free" downloads for video games, game mods, hacking tools, AI programs, or software such as Photoshop; these are often paired with videos that are stolen or edited under false pretenses, such as gameplay of a console-only game on mobile devices. Another common malware on YouTube is a redline stealer, which is used to steal accounts, usually with the goal of disseminating more viruses and malware.[2][4][10][11]
Though the archetypical virus or malware can slow a computer down and present popups, they often also seek to steal personal information, hijack accounts, monitor actions, violate privacy, delete files, or lock down a computer in exchange for a ransom payment. Attempts at directing traffic to fall for viruses and malware are very common uploads to hacked channels.
YouTubers that have been used for scams[]
- Foekoe
- Computer Clan
- McYum
- TheRelaxingEnd
- Tech Ingredients
- Unbox Therapy
Search terms[]
- Free currency (V-Bucks, Robux, real money, etc.)
- GTA 5 mod menu
- Anything cryptocurrency related
- NSFW-related terms, such as "🔞 check comments"
- Hack (sorted to "Recently uploaded")
Identifying scams[]
YouTube doesn't allow spam, scams, or other deceptive practices that take advantage of the YouTube community. If you find content that violates this policy, report it. If you have found a few videos, comments or ads that you would like to report, you can report them, or the channel.
People should be aware that reporting a hacked channel may lead to the original person not getting the channel back. A list of terminated YouTubers can be found here. If you have been compromised follow this link, beware of recovery scams posing as official recovery methods.
If someone insists that you have to pay with crypto, PayPal, or any non-moderated service, or also insists that you have to go to a website to get something or complete a process, it is most likely a scam. Scammers often hurry or expedite the process of the scam to lessen the probability of the victim questioning the legitimacy.
Although this may not apply to non-native language-speaking regions/platforms (these scams are in other languages too), spelling and grammar errors (intentional or not) also help determine if something is a scam. Some examples are Paypai instead of PayPal, r0bux instead of Robux, and these types of spelling errors become the first potential red flag to spot a potential scam.
If something that normally costs money is suddenly free, it probably is a scam.
References[]
- ↑ https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/news/story/man-from-mangaluru-loses-rs-567-lakh-after-falling-for-like-youtube-video-scam-2622317-2024-10-24
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 https://www.noobfeed.com/news/10780/fake-fall-guys-mobile-ad-is-being-advertised-on-youtube
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20210614114726/https://malwiki.org/index.php?title=Scam
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 https://www.worldtrademarkreview.com/article/kasper-vpn-scam-youtube-urged-combat-fraudulent-ads-featuring-third-party-brands
- ↑ https://www.fbi.gov/video-repository/inside-the-fbi-romance-scams-revisited-021424.mp4/view
- ↑ (Contains NSFW references) https://onezero.medium.com/youtubes-spammy-sex-bots-make-a-ton-of-money-2743bf6e8c19
- ↑ https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/common-health-scams
- ↑ (Contains NSFW references) https://www.redpoints.com/blog/dangerous-counterfeits/
- ↑ https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/cryptocurrency/top-crypto-scams/
- ↑ An example of a virus: https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/2018/06/fake-fortnite-android-links-found-youtube
- ↑ https://www.wired.com/story/youtube-gaming-scams-cheats-livestreams/