What Happened to HiiiKey’s Channel?
On January 7, young artist Keyshawn Butler, known as HiiiKey, discovered that his YouTube channel had crooks lurking in the digital shadows. This wasn’t just any mundane hacking: his channel, boasting around 249,000 subscribers, was hijacked to promote a nefarious fake cryptocurrency giveaway.
Livestreaming to Scam the Masses
The hackers didn’t just take over; they threw a full-blown virtual party! They renamed the channel to [Ethereum FUND] and kicked off a livestream that has already swindled more than $70,000 from unsuspecting viewers. Talk about a wild ride on the crypto rollercoaster!
The Fake Giveaway Scheme
During this elaborate ruse, the hackers played a vintage clip of Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin discussing the magical world of Ethereum 2.0. But wait, it got trickier! They overlaid the video with an irresistibly shady offer—40,000 ETH and 3,000 BTC for those brave enough (or foolish enough) to send their cryptocurrency to unknown wallets. Naturally, they promised to double any contributions. 🤦♂️
Attention to Detail Lost in Hack
Despite their successful invasion, these cybercriminals failed to fully erase HiiiKey’s digital footprint. The ABOUT section of the channel still featured his original information, including links to his social media accounts. It’s almost as if they wanted to be caught—like leaving a calling card at a heist!
The Damage Done
A quick investigation revealed that the hackers had pocketed a whopping 39.1 ETH (about $47,260) and more than $22,000 in Bitcoin. Not too shabby for some nefarious kitchen table coding!
Lessons from the Crypto Caper
This incident isn’t a standalone case. High-profile YouTube hacks are on the rise, with similar scams victimizing many users. Remember the infamous hacking of tech reviewer Jon Prosser’s channel? Indeed, in August 2020, he faced a similar fate, where his channel was transformed into fake NASA news. They even leveraged Tesla’s Elon Musk’s fame to promote their scam!
YouTube’s Dilemma
YouTube has been under scrutiny regarding its role in allowing these scams to flourish. Their legal team has stated that they can’t be held accountable for cryptocurrency scams—even as these digital thugs wreak havoc on the unsuspecting. So what now? It’s up to users to stay alert and think twice before sending their hard-earned crypto into the ether!
+ There are no comments
Add yours