Do Mixi's YouTube channel was hacked, livestreaming digital currency

Do Mixi's YouTube channel with 7.3 million followers was renamed, all old videos were hidden, and replaced with promotional videos and cryptocurrency livestreams.

"A very bad day, ending with the loss of YouTube channel," Do Mixi, real name Phung Thanh Do, announced on his personal group on April 2. This channel has now changed its name and avatar to a cryptocurrency project. After gaining control, all of the Vietnamese streamer's videos were hidden and replaced with strange content.

This morning, this channel continued to broadcast live videos, the content of which was cut from the interview video of the CEO of the project of the same name. Below is a link, inviting viewers to transfer cryptocurrency to receive double the rewards.

Do Mixi said that despite the name change, the livestream about the project still had more than 90,000 views at 7:00 a.m. on April 2.

Mr. Pham Huy, representative of Metub - the unit that supports the administration of the MixiGaming channel, said he worked with YouTube on the morning of April 2 to help regain the channel. "100% will get it back," he said, adding it could be completed within a day.

According to him, the situation of hacking YouTube channels to livestream cryptocurrency often happens when the market is in an exciting period like today. Attackers often penetrate through some software, browser extensions and exploit the livestream feature of social networks. He recommends that content creators and channel administrators should not use software of unknown origin to avoid possible risks.

Quang Tu, representative of a social network service unit in Ho Chi Minh City, also said the main reason was due to the owner's poor security. "Most can regain ownership after appealing to YouTube. The time it takes to get it back depends on the case. If the channel is large, has not been 'beaten' with copyright or violated policies, the retrieval will be happening soon," Mr. Tu said.

According to Mr. Tu, if lucky, hackers will only hide Do Mixi's old videos. In the worst case, the entire video is deleted. If the owner takes back the channel, they will only receive the account with the content, without showing the number of views and the impact will be huge.

This is not the first time major YouTube channels in Vietnam have been taken over and livestreamed a digital currency project. In May 2022, the FapTV YouTube channel with 13 million followers was renamed "Tesla US" and broadcast fake interview videos with several cryptocurrency leaders. This channel also leaves a link, tricking users into giving away digital money.

Some famous people such as Tran Thanh, Ho Quang Hieu, Lynklee, and Ly Hai have also had their channels hijacked and broadcast content about cryptocurrency.

Do Mixi, born in 1989, started working as a streamer in 2017 and quickly became a prominent name in Vietnam. In 2020, he set a record for concurrent online viewers in a stream with more than 240,000. In addition to his main job, he also released a MV and participated in the reality show Stars Enlist.