Bootleg Steam channel full of bots?

[Sh. Fred]

Just got this random YouTube recommendation.

Noticed how off it was the second it started.

Literally every single comment is clearly a bot.

Then I noticed how the channel literally copies the official Valve one.

The odd part is that it shows me that I’ve watched some of their videos but I know for a fact I had seen them on the official channel long ago, not on whatever the hell this is.

This has to be for nefarious purposes, right?
What else is the point of doing all this?

https://youtu.be/X3nwlaXUrb4

[JunkMan]

Not clicking on your link due to it my YT being targeted with more of this type of crap once I do. Thanks anyway.

[Wayward]

Nothing really that unusual these days. Fake engagement to drive up views and abuse the algorithm to push it to accounts that belong to real people. And it doesn't just happen on YouTube but basically any social media site as well. Usually it's to sell a product, steal other accounts, or sometimes it's even state-run propaganda.

Also, fake-out channels like this will sometimes fool people into thinking it's the real channel so that they'll subscribe, and then later the entire channel will change to something else once a lot of people are subscribed, like to start shilling crypto.

[JunkMan]

Exactly and that's why I don't want this kind of crap showing up in my feeds. I don't need YT recommending what I watch.

[FFL2and3rocks]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Sh. Fred:

The odd part is that it shows me that I’ve watched some of their videos but I know for a fact I had seen them on the official channel long ago, not on whatever the hell this is.

Those videos aren't uploaded to the fake channel, they just added the videos from the official account to a public playlist to make the page look more convincing.

[Sh. Fred]

This is all interesting to read.
I've reported the channel, hopefully YT takes care of it soon.

My YT recommendations have been garbage recently, it's all either stuff I've already watched 10 times being recommended back to me or random short videos with 0 views, straight out of the dark web.
Guess that's what mindlessly browsing through YT gets me.

This one's quite an odd exception that not only doesn't fit those 2 criteria, it was also recommended on top of the page!

Also the fake channel has 22K subs.
I really hope those subs are just as fake as the comments on the video.

Since the linked video doesn't actually include any specific thing to scam people, I'm led to believe this person was just testing their limits to see how far they'd get.

Honestly seems like they were doing good for themselves with the algorithm, which is what scares me more.

[peppermint hollows]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Wayward:

Also, fake-out channels like this will sometimes fool people into thinking it's the real channel so that they'll subscribe, and then later the entire channel will change to something else once a lot of people are subscribed, like to start shilling crypto.

I saw that exact thing happen once. I got recommended a channel that was posting a bunch of AI generated rubbish but otherwise didn't seem like it was doing anything else wrong, but then I checked back on it later and all of the descriptions had been updated to advertise cryptocurrency and NFTs.

[Crashed]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Sh. Fred:

This is all interesting to read.
I've reported the channel, hopefully YT takes care of it soon.

My YT recommendations have been garbage recently, it's all either stuff I've already watched 10 times being recommended back to me or random short videos with 0 views, straight out of the dark web.
Guess that's what mindlessly browsing through YT gets me.

This one's quite an odd exception that not only doesn't fit those 2 criteria, it was also recommended on top of the page!

Also the fake channel has 22K subs.
I really hope those subs are just as fake as the comments on the video.

Since the linked video doesn't actually include any specific thing to scam people, I'm led to believe this person was just testing their limits to see how far they'd get.

Honestly seems like they were doing good for themselves with the algorithm, which is what scares me more.

YouTube may require the brand owner to take action.

[Sh. Fred]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Crashed:

Początkowo opublikowane przez Sh. Fred:

This is all interesting to read.
I've reported the channel, hopefully YT takes care of it soon.

My YT recommendations have been garbage recently, it's all either stuff I've already watched 10 times being recommended back to me or random short videos with 0 views, straight out of the dark web.
Guess that's what mindlessly browsing through YT gets me.

This one's quite an odd exception that not only doesn't fit those 2 criteria, it was also recommended on top of the page!

Also the fake channel has 22K subs.
I really hope those subs are just as fake as the comments on the video.

Since the linked video doesn't actually include any specific thing to scam people, I'm led to believe this person was just testing their limits to see how far they'd get.

Honestly seems like they were doing good for themselves with the algorithm, which is what scares me more.

YouTube may require the brand owner to take action.

Welp, idk.
The CEO changes in the past decade have been nothing but a change for the worse every single time.

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

The YT account was hijacked.

Users can report the account for scamming and YT will disable/terminate the hijacked account.

[THINK FAST CHUCKLENUTS]

Początkowo opublikowane przez cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

The YT account was hijacked.

Users can report the account for scamming and YT will disable/terminate the hijacked account.

:nkCool:

actually it was not hijacked. if you go to the channel and check the channel's "@", it is @valvegabe24 instead of @Valve

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Początkowo opublikowane przez FPS game enjoyer:

Początkowo opublikowane przez cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

The YT account was hijacked.

Users can report the account for scamming and YT will disable/terminate the hijacked account.

actually it was not hijacked. if you go to the channel and check the channel's "@", it is @valvegabe24 instead of @Valve

GabeN doesn't have his own YT channel where he scams people.

[Thiesen]

SPOILER: The video features something that resembles Gabe Newell with an obviously fake TTS narration overlayed with some cheesy music

Don't tell me you've never seen the TRILLIONS of hijacked Youtube channels scamming bitcoins whenever SpaaceX is going launching their Starship?

This is NOTHING different... the usual $50 gift coupon scam,,,

Report, block and move on...

(I opened the youtube link in FreeTube to not infect my ordinary Youtube feed)

[Sh. Fred]

Holly hell, the necro.

Also not really, the algorithm on YT had never offered something as obnoxiously obvious as this to me before.

If we're talking other social medias tho, yeah this is just their bread and butter.