Hacked on YouTube

Your YouTube was taken. Here's the next hour.

YouTube hijacks move fast: renamed channel, hidden videos, a crypto livestream within the hour.

Does this look familiar

  • Your channel name, avatar or banner changed to a brand or public figure
  • Your videos are hidden or deleted and a livestream is running
  • Google emailed about a new sign-in or a recovery phone change
  • You opened a "brand deal" attachment recently
  • Channel managers you don't recognize were added

Do these, in order

  1. Email and carrier first

    Before touching YouTube: from a clean device, change your email password, enable app-based two-factor, sign out of all sessions, and check recovery options. Call your carrier for an account PIN and port-freeze. Full first hour.

  2. Recover the Google Account first at accounts.google.com/signin/recovery. The channel follows the account. Use a device and location you've used before; recovery is more likely to succeed.

  3. Once in, run the Security Checkup: myaccount.google.com/security. Sign out of all devices, remove unknown recovery phones and emails, revoke third-party app access, and remove unknown devices.

  4. In YouTube Studio → Settings → Permissions, remove any manager or editor you don't recognize. Restore your channel name, avatar and video visibility.

  5. If a stolen session cookie was used (common with fake brand deals), changing the password is not enough. Signing out of all sessions kills the stolen cookie. Then scan the device the attachment was opened on, or wipe it.

  6. If you can't recover: eligible channels in the YouTube Partner Program can reach Creator Support from the YouTube Studio help menu. Otherwise, work the account recovery flow carefully, once, with the most accurate answers you can give.

Avoid

  • Opening any further attachments from the "brand." The file was the attack.
  • Posting your situation from other accounts that share the same password.
  • Reusing the compromised device before it's been cleaned.

After you're back in

Make sure it can't happen the same way twice.

  • Figure out how they got in. The fix depends on the door they used, and there's usually more than one.
  • Close that door specifically, then the ones next to it.
  • Assume the same people will try again. They usually do.
  • Check your passwords and email against known breaches with a free account, and run the exposure scorecard. Or let us do the whole thing.