YouTube Channels Hacked One World Cryptocurrency Scam

Notice: This page is a freshly imported case study from the original repository. The original content was in a different format, and may not have relevant information for all sections. Please help restructure the content by moving information from the 'About' section to other sections, and add any missing information or sources you can find. If you are new here, please read General Tutorial on Wikis or Anatomy of a Case Study for help getting started.

Notice: This page contains sources which are not attributed to any text. The unattributed sources follow the initial description. Please assist by visiting each source, reviewing the content, and placing that reference next to any text it can be used to support. Feel free to add any information that you come across which isn't present already. Sources which don't contain any relevant information can be removed. Broken links can be replaced with versions from the Internet Archive. See General Tutorial on Wikis, Anatomy of a Case Study, and/or Citing Your Sources Guide for additional information. Thanks for your help!

One World Cryptocurrency

For a couple days starting around January 23rd, YouTube channels of prominent cryptocurrency influencers started publishing a new video for a "One World Cryptocurrency". The short video gave limited details and instructed "investors" to send their funds to a particular blockchain address. The scale of channels affected was significant and included at least CoinBureau, Real Vision Finance, CoinMarketCap, Ivan on Tech, Boxmining, The Moon, Floyd Mayweather, aantonop, and Crypto Banter. Limited details are available on the cause of the breach or what funds were lost. One user reports losing $1,000, while another reports that the total loss from all users is less than $1,000.

This is a global/international case not involving a specific country.

About YouTube

"Recently some HUGE investment and crypto based YouTube channels were compromised. Channels like CoinBureau, Real Vision Finance, CoinMarketCap and others accounts were hacked and a video titled "One World Cryptocurrency" was uploaded to the channels instructing viewers to purchase a certain new token.

So what's the big deal? There's YT crypto scams all the time, and you'd have to be crazy to send your crypto to anyone you don't know promising instant returns. Well here's the difference; in traditional "doubling" scams, users create a channel name that looks very similar to the person or entity being impersonated (this is done with a combination of special characters replacing letters). So there are 2 accounts now, the original and the spoof. It's easy to look into the spoof account and find red flags though. This time around, the ORIGINAL legit accounts were hacked and a scam video was uploaded."

"Some of the biggest crypto YouTubers were affected by a mass hacking incident this week. The hack involved a scam, where the attackers attempted to get the crypto YouTubers’ viewers to send them funds. They did so by posting a video to these channels, involving the launch of a supposedly new token.

The video mentioned that by sending funds to the address in the video, you would be able to invest in the pre-sale of a new cryptocurrency called One World Cryptocurrency.

Ivan On Tech was among the first to rush to get news of this hack out in to the open. He posted an emergency video on his YouTube channel straight after realising what had happened."

"Is my account hacked? So my @YouTube account published a video out of the blue - I never uploaded ANYTHING. Managed to delete the video the moment it came out. Doing a security sweep now. but the funny thing is.."

"I checked all my personal accounts for recent logins - there are none. HOWEVER, my Youtube brand account has a login from the Philippines ???"

"Prominent crypto Youtubers such as Ivan on Tech and Real Vision Finance have had their accounts compromised within the past few days. It appears to have been a coordinated effort as hackers uploaded a video titled "One World Cryptocurrency," that solicited the same type of token sales across all breached accounts. In addition, the accounts were all logged in from an IP address in the Philippines, although the VPNs were widespread, which makes it difficult to track exact login locations."

"Some other YouTube channels that have been hacked have also published the same video. These channels include The Moon, Floyd Mayweather, aantonop and Crypto Banter"

"Even Floyd Mayweather channel got hacked and the hacker uploaded the same One World Cryptocurrency video."

"Coin Bureau's new YouTube video titled, 'One World Cryptocurrency' is an obvious scam. Most of the comments on that video are probably bots. Its a 1 minute video and it just contains some slides on how to buy the new scam coin. Not sure if coin bureau is the only one affected by this hack. Guy has not provided an update yet but he will probably post something about it in his telegram channel or on his twitter account. Obviously the scam coin is on Binance Smart Chain, who could've seen that coming. This is as obvious of a scam as you're ever gonna get, please don't buy it."

"The same [scam] was briefly posted on Mrwhostetheboss channel with nearly 10 mill subs. This is crazy."

"Do not click the links on the most recent coin bureau video.

The channel has been compromised by hackers. Stay vigilant and don't send crypto or fiat currencies to any addresses mentioned, don't click any links from the video description.

Do not input your seed phrases anywhere.

Do not buy the token mentioned in the video.

It is 100% a scam and niether Guy nor his team is affiliated with the project or promotes it in any way."

"So our YouTube channel was just hacked. Have absolutely no idea how this happened. All accounts are secured with ultra strong passwords and Google security keys. @YouTubeCreators this is a serious problem which other creators are also experiencing. Please fix"

"It's unclear how much the hackers took in as both creators and Youtube quickly took down the scam videos. However, there have been unconfirmed reports from Twitter users claiming losses. One user, @James86965119, allegedly transferred $1,000 worth of digital currencies to the fake addresses posted by the hacker. In addition, if the allegations from the Youtubers are proven, then it would raise questions regarding the effectiveness of Google's two-factor authentication service. Theoretically, hackers would not be able to access one's Youtube account unless they had both the password and security key."

"Ran NeuNer from Crypto Banter, that was also affected by the hack, spoke out in humour shortly after the incident became public knowledge, saying that the total value the hacker managed to get from victims amounted to under $1000:"

This is a global/international case not involving a specific country.

The background of the exchange platform, service, or individuals involved, as it would have been seen or understood at the time of the events.

Include:

• Known history of when and how the service was started.
• What problems does the company or service claim to solve?
• What marketing materials were used by the firm or business?
• Audits performed, and excerpts that may have been included.
• Business registration documents shown (fake or legitimate).
• How were people recruited to participate?
• Public warnings and announcements prior to the event.

Don't Include:

• Any wording which directly states or implies that the business is/was illegitimate, or that a vulnerability existed.
• Anything that wasn't reasonably knowable at the time of the event.

There could be more than one section here. If the same platform is involved with multiple incidents, then it can be linked to a main article page.

The Reality

This sections is included if a case involved deception or information that was unknown at the time. Examples include:

• When the service was actually started (if different than the "official story").
• Who actually ran a service and their own personal history.
• How the service was structured behind the scenes. (For example, there was no "trading bot".)
• Details of what audits reported and how vulnerabilities were missed during auditing.

What Happened

The specific events of the loss and how it came about. What actually happened to cause the loss and some of the events leading up to it.

Key Event Timeline - YouTube Channels Hacked One World Cryptocurrency Scam

Date	Event	Description
January 23rd, 2022 9:28:00 AM MST	Boxmining Tweet	A channel run by Boxmining posts on Twitter about an exploit posting a One World Cryptocurrency video.
January 24th, 2022 5:29:56 AM MST	SauceMaster145 Warning	Reddit user SauceMaster145 posts a warning on Reddit about the breach and video.
January 24th, 2022 5:32:49 AM MST	Another Reddit Warning	Another warning is posted on Reddit by user j0-hn-dea-ux.
January 24th, 2022 5:36:21 AM MST	Reddit Post	A Reddit post about the issue is posted.
January 24th, 2022 5:37:00 AM MST	CoinBureau Tweet	CoinBureau tweets to notify users that their account was hacked, and provides additional information on the security measures in place on their account.
January 24th, 2022 5:38:00 AM MST	James86965119 Victim	Twitter user James86965119 reports that they fell for the scam and transfered $1,000 to the attacker.
January 24th, 2022 5:39:00 AM MST	CoinBureau Tweet	CoinBureau posts a screenshot of the scam which was posted in his account.
January 24th, 2022 6:10:00 AM MST	Clarification	Guy clarifies that he still has access to his account, and just has no idea how they got in to upload the video in question.
January 24th, 2022 8:47:00 AM MST	YouTube Team Reply	A reply tweet comes from YouTube which is reportedly going to help Guy regain access to his account by sending a direct message.
January 24th, 2022 10:23:33 AM MST	Reddit Controversy	A post on Reddit questions what involvement YouTube would have had in this scheme and how it's possible for so many prominent figured to have been compromised.

Technical Details

This section includes specific detailed technical analysis of any security breaches which happened. What specific software vulnerabilities contributed to the problem and how were they exploited?

Total Amount Lost

The total amount lost is unknown.

How much was lost and how was it calculated? If there are conflicting reports, which are accurate and where does the discrepancy lie?

Immediate Reactions

How did the various parties involved (firm, platform, management, and/or affected individual(s)) deal with the events? Were services shut down? Were announcements made? Were groups formed?

Ultimate Outcome

What was the end result? Was any investigation done? Were any individuals prosecuted? Was there a lawsuit? Was any tracing done?

Total Amount Recovered

There do not appear to have been any funds recovered in this case.

What funds were recovered? What funds were reimbursed for those affected users?

Ongoing Developments

What parts of this case are still remaining to be concluded?

Individual Prevention Policies

No specific policies for individual prevention have yet been identified in this case.

For the full list of how to protect your funds as an individual, check our Prevention Policies for Individuals guide.

Platform Prevention Policies

Policies for platforms to take to prevent this situation have not yet been selected in this case.

For the full list of how to protect your funds as a financial service, check our Prevention Policies for Platforms guide.

Regulatory Prevention Policies

No specific regulatory policies have yet been identified in this case.

For the full list of regulatory policies that can prevent loss, check our Prevention Policies for Regulators guide.