The YouTube channel belonging to late Twitch streamer Byron ‘Reckful’ Bernstein was the latest to be hacked in order to promote a fake Elon Musk Bitcoin scam.
Multiple Twitch channels have been taken over by hackers to push crypto scams onto unsuspecting viewers in recent weeks, but now YouTube has also become a prime target.
The rise of fake Bitcoin “giveaway” Twitch streams first began in 2020, but they’ve recently resurfaced, taking over Twitch’s Just Chatting category and even other accounts, such as Fedmyster’s, which was banned from the platform.
On April 18, the account belonging to late Twitch streamer Reckful was the latest to be seized by hackers in an effort to push their scam.
Reckful’s YouTube hacked
In screenshots posted to Twitter, Reckful’s account hosted a live broadcast titled “Tesla CEO Elon Musk will start pump cryptocurrency” in what the hackers tried to make appear as an official Tesla event.
Luckily, the hack didn’t last long, as it was restored to its original state a couple of hours later, but many were still furious that Reckful’s account was targeted to begin with.
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On the popular LiveStreamFail Reddit, users voiced anger that hackers had gone after Reckful of all people, calling the act “disrespectful.”
@Youtube Reckful’s channel was hacked pic.twitter.com/vRqeaPEyeF
— connor (@golden_xp_) April 18, 2022
“This makes me sick, it’s like destroying tombstones in a cemetery,” one said.
Others praised Reckful’s mods for handling the situation and getting the account back under control, but it seems like there is no end to these ongoing scams as they continue to plague Twitch and YouTube.
So far, neither company has commented on the hacks, but hopefully, they’re able to put some measures in place to prevent them from happening so frequently.