The days when YouTube was just a place for funny clips and music videos are behind us. With 2.53 billion active users, it has become a space where entertainment, information, and deception coexist.
Alongside everyday videos, the site has seen more scams, deepfakes, and promotions hiding harmful links behind familiar logos. Malware found in tutorials, hijacked creator accounts, and fraudulent investment content have become recurring issues.
What makes YouTube vulnerable
YouTube’s design makes it difficult to police. Attackers use the same engagement methods that help regular creators grow. Watch time, likes, and comments push videos higher in recommendations, letting scams spread before moderators can step in.
Researchers say these scams often copy normal video formats. They use upbeat narration, clean thumbnails, and familiar brands to seem legitimate. Some tie their tricks to trending topics like AI trading bots or free software tools, catching users who are looking for simple guidance.
Another issue is the market for aged YouTube accounts. These channels already have followers and algorithmic trust. When paired with AI-made videos, they give scammers an easy way to publish convincing content on a large scale.
YouTube’s platform exploited in expanding malware campaigns
Researchers recently uncovered a large-scale malware operation on YouTube known as the “YouTube Ghost Network.” It involved more than 3,000 videos uploaded to fake or hijacked channels that promised cracked software or game hacks but instead led viewers to phishing pages or malware downloads.
Cheats that promise better performance or invisibility in games often draw in younger players. Scammers take advantage of their curiosity and trick them into downloading harmful software.
In a similar case, Bitdefender found a scam that moved from Facebook Ads to YouTube and Google Ads, using offers of free TradingView Premium to lure users. Attackers hijacked a Norwegian design agency’s Google Ads account and, separately, took over a verified YouTube channel. With those in hand, they posed as TradingView by keeping the verified badge, reusing official logos and banners, and mirroring playlist layouts.
Deepfakes drive a surge in crypto scams
As interest in Bitcoin grew, scammers began using deepfake videos of well-known people to promote fake investments and lure victims.
SentinelLabs reported a wave of cryptocurrency scams where attackers promote a crypto trading bot that hides a smart contract built to drain funds. The schemes are pushed through YouTube videos that pitch the bot and walk viewers through deploying a contract in Remix, the web-based Solidity IDE for Web3 projects.
Public figures like Elon Musk and Donald Trump were among those impersonated in these videos, which use their image to mislead viewers. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak warned about the problem, criticizing YouTube for failing to prevent such scams after he was impersonated in one himself.
A deepfake of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang hosted a fake GTC livestream on YouTube, drew about 100,000 viewers and appeared above the official stream in search before it was taken down.
After a wave of online scams, some politicians in the UK are calling for stricter regulation of YouTube ads. They argue that ads on the platform should be held to the same rules and oversight as television advertising.
What to expect in 2026
Scam activity on YouTube is expected to rise in 2026 as AI tools lower the effort needed to make and share fake videos. Faster, cheaper production means more scams will reach wider audiences. Deepfake versions of public figures are likely to drive a new wave of investment and promotion scams.
“Treat deepfakes like any other cyber threat and apply a zero-trust mindset. That means don’t assume anything is real just because it looks or sounds convincing,” warned Camellia Chan, CEO of X-PHY.
That pattern mirrors a wider financial threat. Deloitte projects that GenAI could drive fraud losses in the United States to $40 billion by 2027, up from $12.3 billion in 2023.
Coordinated networks of fake creators are likely to become more common. These accounts will post, comment, and interact with each other to appear authentic. Others will keep buying or taking over established channels with existing audiences and algorithmic trust. Ad systems remain weak spots, giving scammers space to place harmful links in areas that appear safe to users.
