Security News > 2022 > January > Stolen TikTok Videos, Bent on Fraud, Invade YouTube Shorts

Scammers are taking full advantage of the launch of Google's new TikTok competitor, YouTube Shorts, which has turned out to be an awesome tool for feeding billions of engaged viewers stolen content.

Narang analyzed 50 different YouTube channels and found as of December, they had racked up 3.2 billion views across at least 38,293 videos stolen from TikTok creators.

YouTube Shorts viewers were also served advertisements alongside viral TikTok workout videos for trending products - like the pants simply known as "The leggings" across social media.

Popular TikTok videos are also being used across YouTube Shorts just to build engagement and follower counts, which Narang explained is a form of social-media currency that is used to sell advertising and earn affiliate money for views.

"There are also a number of YouTube channels that have been created solely as hubs for stolen TikTok content to gain social currency."

"As YouTube and other platforms have sought to penalize creators and channels for fake engagement, scammers are using stolen TikTok videos to gain social currency using content that doesn't belong to them."

News URL

https://threatpost.com/stolen-tiktok-videos-fraud-youtube-shorts/177600/