YouTube Channel 'Tech Support Scams' Taken Offline By Tech Support Scam

The Tech Support Scams YouTube channel, operated by host and creator Jim Browning, was deleted after a tech support scam convinced Browning that the only way to secure his account was to delete it. The Register reports: 'So to prove that anyone can be scammed,' Browning announced via Twitter following the attack, 'I was convinced to delete my YouTube channel because I was convinced I was talking [to YouTube] support. I never lost control of the channel, but the sneaky s**t managed to get me to delete the channel. Hope to recover soon.' To fool Browning, the ruse must have been convincing: 'I track down the people who scam others on the Internet,' he writes on his Patreon page. 'This is usually those 'tech support' call frauds using phone calls or pop-ups. I explain what I do by guiding others in how to recognize a scam and, more importantly, how to turn the tables on scammers by tracking them down.'

Browning has made a name for himself with self-described 'scam baiting' videos, in which he sets up honeypot systems and pretends to fall for scams in which supposed support staffers need remote access to fix a problem or remove a virus -- in reality scouring the hard drive for sensitive files or planting malware of their own. 'I am hoping that YouTube Support can recover the situation by 29th July,' Browning wrote in a Patreon update, 'and I can get the channel back, but they've not promised anything as yet. I just hope it is recoverable.'

Whether Browning is able to recover the account, and the 3.28 million subscribers he had gathered over his career as a scam-baiter, he's hoping to turn his misfortune into another lesson. 'I will make a video on how all of this went down,' he pledged, 'but suffice to say, it was pretty convincing until the very end.'

Read more of this story at Slashdot.