YouTube telegram and whatsapp scams are everywhere in the comment section of every YouTube channel.

How the scam works

They impersonate the creator of the channel in a giveaway scam. The end result is to extract money via shipping fees.

Red Flags:

• Never from an official email or the same name as creator
• No creator uses whatsapp or telegram for communication. We’d just leave our email in the comment itself. Note: scammers can’t do this because it would be caught by spam filters
• Shipping fees are high
• I don’t know of a YouTuber that has EVER charged fans for shipping.
• Invoice isn’t from YouTuber and they request “Friends and Family” for faster processing because it is NON-REFUNDABLE.
• Giveaways are rare and dangerous for the YouTuber. An example of this is “The Linux Experiment” did a Tuxedo computer giveaway and the entire channel was deleted by YouTube. I will never do a giveaway because of these dangers.

Do people fall for these scams?

Yes - Here are screenshots from a victim that contacted me

Amount lost - Notice that it was sent via “Friends and Family” Gift that is NON-REFUNDABLE

The trick to give you to gift it? Faster Processing via bogus invoice.

Folks get caught up in the excitement of winning something and ignore these red flags. Emotions are how we all make bad decisions and why you shouldn’t rush into these scenarios.

Walkthrough Video