YouTube Scam Bots Exploit Hijacked Accounts, Steal 256 ETH

Published: 2025-08-07 06:29:34 |

Since early 2024, hackers have hijacked aged YouTube accounts to deploy YouTube scam bots promoting fake trading tools, facilitating a widespread crypto scam with malicious smart contracts. The YouTube scam bots use AI-generated videos, code snippets and fake testimonials to guide victims in funding these contracts with at least 0.5 ETH, only for attacker-controlled wallets to drain the deposits. Analysis shows scam wallets holding between 4.19 and 244.9 ETH, with over 256 ETH stolen to date. SentinelLABS warns traders to verify contract sources, audit code inputs and outputs, and avoid get-rich-quick schemes from social media or influencer videos.

Bearish

News of a large-scale crypto scam involving over 256 ETH stolen through hijacked YouTube accounts and malicious smart contracts undermines trader confidence in Ethereum-based tools. In the short term, increased fear and uncertainty could trigger sell-offs of ETH as users avoid unverified contracts. Over the long term, demand for robust security audits may rise, but immediate sentiment remains negative. Overall, the impact on ETH price is expected to be bearish.