YouTube is becoming a cybercriminal gateway for human manipulation

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Scammers are funnelling victims through YouTube

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Human manipulation is the leading driver behind the success of cyberthreats, new research from Avast has found.

Social engineering campaigns employed to distribute scams and similar threats accounted for 90% of all threats blocked in the mobile device landscape.

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Avast outlined how threat actors are increasingly turning to YouTube as a means to disseminate scams and deepfakes through seemingly legitimate channels. 

The scammers will often offer to collaborate with channels with an established audience, building trust all the while, before sending malware that leads to the channel being stolen through account compromise or cookie theft.

Moreover, threat actors on YouTube are also abusing hobbies such as gaming and common problems involving antivirus by including malicious links in the video descriptions that appear to be legitimate software downloads, but instead download and install malware onto the victims device.

Avast threats

(Image credit: Avast)

Scams utilizing interest in cryptocurrency are also seeing a rise in popularity, with channels dedicated to news and information on cryptocurrencies being stolen by threat actors and then used to share crypto-scams such as giveaways that require a deposit to enter.

In 2023 alone, Avast says protected four million users against threats distributed via YouTube, with more recent figures from January to March 2024 showing 500,000 people have been protected so far.

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Benedict Collins
Benedict Collins
Senior Writer, Security

Benedict is a Senior Security Writer at TechRadar Pro, where he has specialized in covering the intersection of geopolitics, cyber-warfare, and business security.

Benedict provides detailed analysis on state-sponsored threat actors, APT groups, and the protection of critical national infrastructure, with his reporting bridging the gap between technical threat intelligence and B2B security strategy.

Benedict holds an MA (Distinction) in Security, Intelligence, and Diplomacy from the University of Buckingham Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies (BUCSIS), with his specialization providing him with a robust academic framework for deconstructing complex international conflicts and intelligence operations, and the ability to translate intricate security data into actionable insights.