Big YouTube accounts are being plagued by hackers promoting Bitcoin scams resembling the hack that compromised Twitter

 

As SpaceX and NASA made history last week with their fast ever spaceflight together , millions flocked to YouTube to watch astronauts return to Earth. 

Tens of thousands of those viewrs unwittingly clicked on videos that append to be official SpaceX livestreams, posted by seemingly legitimate YouTube channels with hunderds of thousands of subscribes. Instead, they were met with "Bitcoin giveaway" meaaseages urging them to send Bitcoin in order to be paid back double - a common scam tactic.

Hackers appear to have compromised several high-profile YouTube channels in the past week, changed then channel names to hot-button topics like SpaceX or Elone Musk, and promoted Bitcoin scams. The trend was pointed out Monday by esports commentator Rod Breslau.

The tactics appear similar to those employed by the hackers who compromised Twitter last month, taking over verified accounts , including Kim Kardashin's Bitcoin scams.

But while the Twitter breach was the results of hackers gaining access to Twitter's internal tools and systems, its's possible that each hacked YouTube channel was taken over separately, without hackers compromising YouTube's internal tools. Nonetheless, hacked channels promoting Bitcoin scams appears to be pervasive on YouTube. 

As SpaceX and NASA made history last week with their fast ever spaceflight together , millions flocked to YouTube to watch astronauts return to Earth. 

Tens of thousands of those viewrs unwittingly clicked on videos that append to be official SpaceX livestreams, posted by seemingly legitimate YouTube channels with hunderds of thousands of subscribes. Instead, they were met with "Bitcoin giveaway" meaaseages urging them to send Bitcoin in order to be paid back double - a common scam tactic.

Hackers appear to have compromised several high-profile YouTube channels in the past week, changed then channel names to hot-button topics like SpaceX or Elone Musk, and promoted Bitcoin scams. The trend was pointed out Monday by esports commentator Rod Breslau.

The tactics appear similar to those employed by the hackers who compromised Twitter last month, taking over verified accounts , including Kim Kardashin's Bitcoin scams.

But while the Twitter breach was the results of hackers gaining access to Twitter's internal tools and systems, its's possible that each hacked YouTube channel was taken over separately, without hackers compromising YouTube's internal tools. Nonetheless, hacked channels promoting Bitcoin scams appears to be pervasive on YouTube. 

A YouTube spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but some hacked channels were disabled shortly after Business Insider asked YouTube about them.

A YouTube spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but some hacked channels were disabled shortly after Business Insider asked YouTube about them.

As SpaceX and NASA made history last week with their fast ever spaceflight together , millions flocked to YouTube to watch astronauts return to Earth. 

Tens of thousands of those viewrs unwittingly clicked on videos that append to be official SpaceX livestreams, posted by seemingly legitimate YouTube channels with hunderds of thousands of subscribes. Instead, they were met with "Bitcoin giveaway" meaaseages urging them to send Bitcoin in order to be paid back double - a common scam tactic.

Hackers appear to have compromised several high-profile YouTube channels in the past week, changed then channel names to hot-button topics like SpaceX or Elone Musk, and promoted Bitcoin scams. The trend was pointed out Monday by esports commentator Rod Breslau.

The tactics appear similar to those employed by the hackers who compromised Twitter last month, taking over verified accounts , including Kim Kardashin's Bitcoin scams.

But while the Twitter breach was the results of hackers gaining access to Twitter's internal tools and systems, its's possible that each hacked YouTube channel was taken over separately, without hackers compromising YouTube's internal tools. Nonetheless, hacked channels promoting Bitcoin scams appears to be pervasive on YouTube. 

A YouTube spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but some hacked channels were disabled shortly after Business Insider asked YouTube about them.