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Home » Fake YouTube Emails Could Lead To Channel Hacks IF You Don’t Read This Warning – Jan 2020

Fake YouTube Emails Could Lead To Channel Hacks IF You Don’t Read This Warning – Jan 2020

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Fake YouTube Emails have been circulating for a long time, warning YouTubers that their channels are about to be suspended if they do not take the action dictated by the potential hackers.

After receiving a large number of such emails over the past year or so, I have made a quick video showing what the emails look like, how you can tell they are fake and what you should do if you get one.

https://youtu.be/opLLyBM_s98

This is typically what the fake YouTube emails say:

With the aim of increasing easy intelligibility and transparency, We are updating our Terms of service for YouTube channels that are open to making money. Please accept our new terms of service by clicking on the link below. Otherwise, the monetization feature of your YouTube channel will be disabled within 24 hours. The new terms of service apply to people with monetization enabled. Thank you for being part of the YouTube community.

This is followed by a clickable link saying ‘click for details’.

Here is another typical message:

We’ve received a complaint that your channel has lots of spam videos. Please check and edit the spam videos we have marked by clicking on the link below. Otherwise, if you don’t edit spam videos on your channel, your channel will close in 24 hours. Thank you for your patience in this process.

This also comes with a clickable link which, if clicked will surely take you down a rabbit hole from which you will not escape with your YouTube channel intact.

Fake YouTube Emails depend on your kneejerk reaction in order for them to work for the hackers.

Us YouTubers put a huge amount of work into our channels and naturally, getting a message warning us they will be shut down within 24 hours if we don’t click the link and follow the instructions is going to cause a sense of panic.

Don’t be fooled into parting with your channel by cyber criminals

Even YouTubers who sense that these messages could be one of the dreaded fake YouTube emails are tempted to click on the link ‘just in case’.

Don’t do it. Watch my video and other videos on YouTube from other channel owners like me, who have had these emails.

I apologise for this not being a craft post but hopefully it will help someone not fall prey to all the fake YouTube emails currently doing the rounds.