← All posts

26 October 2026 · Advice · By Damien, Peter and Claude

Fake brand deals are targeting podcasters on YouTube: how to keep your channel safe

If your podcast lives on YouTube, your channel is one of your most valuable business assets. It holds every episode, every clip and every subscriber you’ve earned. Scammers know that, and they’re getting much better at going after it.

Here’s a scam doing the rounds right now, how to spot ones like it, and the simple steps that keep your channel in your hands.

The scam: a fake Amazon Music x YouTube deal

Security company Malwarebytes has reported a scam aimed at YouTube creators. It works like this:

1. An invitation to an exclusive dealCreators are offered an invite-only advertising deal from “Amazon Music”, on a site dressed up as an Amazon creator portal.
2. Your real stats, to win your trustEnter your channel and the site shows your actual subscriber count, views, top videos and thumbnails, alongside an earnings calculator. It feels personal and legitimate.
3. A “verify your channel” stepTo unlock the offer, you’re asked to sign in with Google. The sign-in page is fake.
4. Your account is takenThe fake page collects your password and the one-time code from your phone, which can be enough to get past two-step verification and take over the channel.

It’s convincing because it borrows from something real: earlier this year YouTube announced that Amazon had joined its Shopping Affiliate Program. Scams like this work best when they sit next to genuine news.

Why podcasters are a target

A business podcast on YouTube is an attractive prize. The channel has an audience, a track record and often a brand name attached. Once inside, scammers can lock you out, delete your back catalogue, or rename the channel and use your subscribers to push crypto scams or malware. Getting a hijacked channel back can take weeks, and some content never returns.

And it’s not just this one scam. Creators regularly receive fake sponsorship offers with “contracts” that are really malware, fake copyright warnings, and messages pretending to be from YouTube itself.

Red flags to watch for

• A brand deal you didn’t apply for, especially one that’s “exclusive” or “invite only”
• Any offer that asks you to sign in with Google to see the details
• Pressure to act quickly: limited places, a deadline today, a deal that will “expire”
• Web addresses that look nearly right, such as a brand name joined to another word, or an unusual ending
• Attachments you’re asked to download and open, such as “contracts” or “media kits” in zip files or unusual formats
• Messages claiming to be from YouTube that don’t appear in your YouTube Studio

Six steps to protect your podcast’s channel

1. Check deals at the sourceIf a brand gets in touch, find their official website or a known contact yourself and confirm the offer there. Never use the link or phone number in the message.
2. Look before you sign inGoogle sign-in should only ever happen on accounts.google.com. If you reached a sign-in page from an offer, close it and go to YouTube directly instead.
3. Never share a codeNo genuine brand, agency or YouTube employee will ask for the code sent to your phone. Anyone who asks is trying to get into your account.
4. Use a passkey or security keyGoogle lets you sign in with a passkey on your phone or laptop. Passkeys can’t be typed into a fake page, so they stop this kind of scam in its tracks.
5. Give your team access, not your passwordYouTube lets you add people to your channel with their own login and a set role, through the permissions settings in YouTube Studio. Producers, editors and agencies should use this, so no one needs your password and you can remove access at any time.
6. Run Google’s Security CheckupIt takes a few minutes and shows which devices are signed in, which apps have access and whether your recovery phone and email are up to date.

If you think you’ve already signed in

Act straight away. The sooner you do, the better your chances of keeping the channel.

• Change your Google password from a device you trust, and sign out of all other sessions.
• Check your security settings for recovery details, apps and devices you don’t recognise, and remove them.
• Check your channel permissions in YouTube Studio and remove anyone who shouldn’t be there.
• Tell your team so nobody acts on messages from the channel until it’s secure.
• If you’re locked out, use Google’s account recovery and YouTube’s help pages for hacked channels as soon as possible.

How we look after our clients’ channels

When we publish episodes and clips for a client, we’re added to the channel with YouTube’s own permissions, so we never need anyone’s password. It’s safer for everyone, and it means our clients always stay in control of their channel.

If you’d like a second pair of eyes on a brand deal that’s landed in your inbox, send it to us and we’ll tell you what we think.

Questions about keeping your channel safe