YouTube channel Linus Tech Tips terminated after it was hacked to show crypto-scam videos

What just happened? Linus Tech Tips, one of the largest and most popular technology YouTube channels on the platform, has been hacked. It was used by the hackers to show pre-recorded 'live-streaming' crypto-scam videos, featuring former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. The channel is now showing a message stating it has been shut down for violating YouTube's community guidelines, but it appears Linus' other channels are also being abused.

Linus Sebastian's Linus Tech Tips YouTube channel has been running since 2008 and has amassed 15.8 million subscribers. The Canadian has several channels under the Linus Media Group banner, including TechLinked, but the main one remains the most popular. Sadly for all involved, it's become the latest high-profile channel to be hacked.

Hackers changed the channel's name to LinusTechTipsTemp adding a @temporaryhandle. They also posted two videos of old livestreams featuring Jack Dorsey and Elon Musk, which were part of The B Word conference held by Ark Invest in June last year, uploaded with overlays linking to crypto scams. This is the same trick that has been used on several previous occasions, including the hack on the British Army YouTube channel last year.

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