YouTube is warning users of phishing messages that appear to be coming from the video-sharing platform’s legitimate email address, urging them to be vigilant.
A screenshot of the email shared by content creator and Twitter user Kevin Breeze (opens in new tab) shows what appears to be a video without a thumbnail from “YouTubeTeam” covering “Changes in YouTube rules and policies.”
YouTube’s advice as per its Tweet (opens in new tab) is to “be cautious & don’t download/access any file if you get this email (see below),” which includes a link to a Google Drive file.
YouTube phishing email
Less vigilant users may be more easily swayed to believe its legitimacy even after checking the email address because the message comes from an @youtube.com email address.
Breeze confirms in the thread that the way this has been achieved is by the manner of abuse of the video-sharing system. Subsequently, his guidance is to disable the feature which has reduced in popularity in recent years anyway.
YouTube’s Tweet also directs users to a support article (opens in new tab) detailing how they can remain safe from suspicious emails.
All being well, many victims may choose to ignore the email given that few people, in reality, check through updated terms. To combat this, the phishing email instills a sense of urgency as it gives its victims seven days to act before their account becomes restricted, with monetization, uploading, and editing all threatened to be affected.
The streaming platform says that it has teams working on an investigation, but in the meantime, Internet users are being urged to learn about new phishing methods that do a much better job of impersonation than they once did, and to consider investing in malware removal tools should they have opened any suspicious links.