Incident 965: Phishers Allegedly Using AI-Generated Video of YouTube CEO Neal Mohan to Target Creators

Description: Scammers are reportedly using an AI-generated deepfake of YouTube CEO Neal Mohan to steal user credentials. The fake video announces false changes to YouTube’s monetization policy, and it then tricks creators into clicking malicious links or downloading malware. The scam spreads through private videos and emails from a fake YouTube address. It exploits platform features to appear legitimate. Victims risk losing account access or exposing sensitive data.

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Incident Stats

Incident ID
965
Report Count
4
Incident Date
2025-03-04
Editors
Daniel Atherton
Phishing Campaign Using Private Video Sharing
support.google.com · 2025

We're aware that phishers have been sharing private videos to send false videos, including an AI generated video of YouTube's CEO Neal Mohan announcing changes in monetization.

YouTube and its employees will never attempt to contact you or …

Scammers use deepfake of YouTube's CEO in new phishing attack
androidpolice.com · 2025
  • Scammers created an AI deepfake video of YouTube CEO Neal Mohan making an important announcement about monetization changes.
  • The video is being shared to creators as a private video, and includes a link.
  • YouTube says they never communicate…
YouTube Warns Creators About AI-Generated Video of Its CEO
petapixel.com · 2025

YouTube has warned creators about an AI-generated video of the company's CEO that is being used in phishing scams.

In an official post on Tuesday, YouTube released a warning to users about an AI-generated video of its CEO Neal Mohan, announ…

Hackers Deploy AI Deepfake of YouTube CEO in Credential Theft Scam
hackread.com · 2025

YouTube CEO Neal Mohan was impersonated in a deepfake phishing scam. Learn about the attack, how to spot the red flags, and how to protect your account from credential theft.

A new sophisticated phishing operation, leveraging artificial int…

Variants

A "variant" is an incident that shares the same causative factors, produces similar harms, and involves the same intelligent systems as a known AI incident. Rather than index variants as entirely separate incidents, we list variations of incidents under the first similar incident submitted to the database. Unlike other submission types to the incident database, variants are not required to have reporting in evidence external to the Incident Database. Learn more from the research paper.

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