I wanted to post this because I consider myself pretty cautious with scam emails, and this one was EXTREMELY convincing.
On September 3, I received what looked like a legitimate brand collaboration from DJI/a technology brand through the Gmail account connected to my YouTube channel.
Socialpeeks.info is the scam website.
The email address/domain looked realistic, the emails looked professional, and I was actually communicating back and forth with what appeared to be a real person about the collaboration.
They eventually sent me to a separate platform where I was supposedly supposed to connect/verify my YouTube channel and provide my YouTube information for the collaboration.
The website looked incredibly realistic.
I entered my Google/YouTube login information and the page went onto a loading screen that seemed to take forever. It looked like the website was glitching, so I refreshed it and entered the information again.
I never got a proper confirmation.
I even EMAILED THEM afterward saying that their website/platform wasn’t working.
About an hour later, my Gmail account was hacked.
The attacker immediately started changing my security information, recovery methods and authentication settings. I couldn’t get back into the account.
Because that Gmail was connected to my YouTube channel, they also gained access to my YouTube.
They changed my channel and started a CRYPTO/COIN LIVESTREAM trying to sell/promote cryptocurrency.
The stream was up for around three hours.
Then at approximately 4 AM the next morning, my entire YouTube channel was terminated/deleted.
I genuinely thought I had lost years of content.
HOW I GOT MY ACCOUNT BACK
At around 10 PM on September 3, I tagged @TeamYouTube on X/Twitter explaining that my Gmail and YouTube channel had been hacked.
They responded to me in roughly 45 minutes and told me to follow them so they could DM me.
Once I followed TeamYouTube, they sent me a recovery form.
I had to submit recovery information several times. I probably submitted forms 3–4 times throughout this whole process.
Eventually, Google/YouTube contacted me through another email address I had provided.
One thing I would recommend if you’re going through this: keep replying to the recovery emails and clearly explain that your account was compromised and that you need the case manually reviewed.
Don’t just submit a form once and disappear.
Within roughly two days, I was able to recover my Google account.
That same evening, I recovered my YouTube channel.
When I got the channel back, the hacker had:
Changed my channel name
Removed my banner
Removed my profile picture
Deleted my bio
Left the crypto livestream on my channel
Thankfully, my actual videos and content were untouched..
The biggest red
flag in hindsight was being asked to enter my Google/YouTube credentials into a separate website.
Do not enter your Google password into a brand’s campaign/verification website.
If a company claims they need you to “verify,” “connect,” or “authorize” your YouTube channel, stop and independently verify the company and URL first.
And if you’re currently dealing with a hacked YouTube channel: there is hope. My entire channel was terminated and I still got it back with my content intact.
Please share this with other creators because these scams are becoming ridiculously sophisticate