Fraudsters use YouTube to steal user data and money

Fraudsters have started to steal money and personal data of users through YouTube in Russia, the Russian newspaper Izvestia reported.

"Fraudsters are sending disguised emails under the name of a video hosting site, allegedly saying that a comment has been left under a video of a 'new project of a famous financial brand," said the Russian company F.A.C.C., which specializes in information security.

Users who have nothing to do with the video or comments may not suspect it is a scam and out of curiosity follow a link in an email that leads to a fake website. There, potential victims are asked to participate in a survey to find out their financial situation, as well as to enter personal information through a special form.

If the user does this, they are contacted by a "personal manager" who supposedly helps them open an account and start "making money". However, in reality, all the money that will be invested in this dubious project will immediately end up in the hands of criminals.

At the same time, F.A.C.C.T notes that scammers have previously registered a new channel on YouTube and posted several videos there for credibility. After that, they started leaving comments under the videos from different user accounts, thereby creating an impression of activity. In addition, under the name of YouTube, notifications about this activity have turned into a tool for scammers, through which they send emails with malicious links to thousands of people.

R-Vision's information security analyst Noy Torosyan told Izvestia that YouTube is the largest video hosting service in the world with more than 2.5 billion monthly viewers. According to him, this is what makes video hosting attractive to attackers who seek financial gain under the guise of offering easy money.

In addition, YouTube is often associated with the possibility of making money by creating content, which can attract the attention of people looking for an easy way to make money, the expert said.