Influencers and content creators on YouTube are big business, commanding millions in branding deals and attracting legions of devoted fans. It was just a matter of time before a fraudster had the bright idea to get in on the action with a YouTube scam. Recently, this has taken the form of a good old fashioned phishing scam.
Uncovered by popular YouTuber Philip DeFranco, who boasts over 6 million subscribers, the scammers claim to be the content creators themselves. The scammer reaches out to a potential victim, promising special prizes in exchange for a few personal details.
While phishing scams are nothing new, using YouTube as a platform and masquerading as the influencers themselves is a new twist.