Ranveer Allahbadia reacts after his BeerBiceps channel hacked, videos deleted

New Delhi: Popular content creator and podcast host Ranveer Allahbadia's YouTube channels, which collectively had millions of followers, were hacked by unidentified perpetrators on Wednesday.

His official channel was renamed to "Tesla," with the handle changed to '@Elon.trump.teslalive2024,' while his personal channel was rebranded as '@Tesla.event.trump2024.'

All videos on both channels were subsequently deleted by the hackers.

The hackers reportedly used a deceptive livestream featuring an AI-generated avatar of Tesla CEO Elon Musk to promote a cryptocurrency scam.

The avatar directed viewers to scan a QR code and deposit cryptocurrency on a suspicious website, elonweb.net, using a classic "Bitcoin doubling" scam tactic often seen in cyberattacks targeting high-profile YouTube channels.

In response to the hack, YouTube took down Allahbadia's channels due to policy violations.

Initially, when users attempted to search for the channels, they were greeted with a message stating that they had been removed due to a violation of the company's policies.

Now, the live streaming platform simply displays a message saying 'This page isn't available. Sorry about that. Try searching for something else.'

What will happen now to Ranveer Allahbadia's YouTube channel?

Hours after the unfortunate incident, Allahbadia posted a story on his Instagram handle @beerbiceps where he shared a picture of food with the caption, "Celebrating my two main channels being hacked with my favorite food. vegan burgers."

In another Story, he wrote, "Is this the end of my YouTube career? Was nice knowing you all."

Many popular YouTubers have faced similar hacking incidents in the recent past, with them eventually getting back their original account with everything from subscribers to videos all-restored.