Hi Bookworms! I should add that I wasn't hacked by MicroStrategy or Pinnacle Studio, just someone posing as them. Sorry I didn't mention that!

@mcintyre0591

Ай бұрын

My information was found to have been stolen through that ATT breach. I took 15 minutes and froze my credit through the 3 credit organizations. If you have no plans of taking out line of credit in the near future I recommend it. It will keep anyone from opening a line of credit in your name

@360mAN100

Ай бұрын

FYI KZread or the hacker unsubscribed me from your channel sometime during the hack. I would assume the majority of the people who unsubscribed did so involuntarily.

@DV-ty6yc

Ай бұрын

Glad you got it sorted out my Goodman.

I thought this was MicroStrategy, now apparently this guy Mike has hacked and taken over the channel. wtf

Phew! This just shows that this sort of thing can happen to anyone. I’m so glad you’re back, Mike. Thank you for sharing your experience to help others avoid it.

@mikesbookreviews

Ай бұрын

Hope it helps!

This is actually my worst nightmare 😭 I’m SO glad they only privated your videos, I was sick for you. I don’t think I would’ve slept until it was fixed

So glad for you that your content wasn’t deleted, just turned to private.

@stephentheshywarrior2759

Ай бұрын

If it was me mike I'd definitely backup your vids on a hard drive or something. Just in case

@mikesbookreviews

Ай бұрын

Same! I thought it was lost to the void.

@AutomailUser

Ай бұрын

The same thing happened to a furniture flipping channel I watch, they hacked him through an email and privated all of his videos.

I was one of those 2000 people who unsubbed. I didnt even know it was you. i just thought like what the hell did i subscribe to and unsubbed. Subbed again of course. Glad you got your account back

@mikesbookreviews

Ай бұрын

No worries! Glad you're back.

@emzstern

Ай бұрын

Same, I thought I accidentally subbed to cryptochannel (which is not my type of content at all) Resubbed when I realized it was Mikes channel. Glad he got it back :)

Insane that just opening an email let them in. I feel that’s on Google for allowing those kind of emails through. They need to step their game up. Also allowing them to turn off 2 step verification without needing to use 2 step verification is so dumb.

@mikesbookreviews

Ай бұрын

The turning off 2sv should be way harder.

@jackmatube

Ай бұрын

“Opening email” meant you opened it inside gmail (web)? Or used a email client? It would be interesting what browser / email client was used. If you like to disclose.

I can only imagine how stressful this was, but I'm glad you were able to get your channel back and appreciate you sharing the experience to help others avoid it!

Thanks so much for being so open about this Mike. So sorry you had to go through it and so happy to see you back on the channel!

@mikesbookreviews

Ай бұрын

Happy to share the experience for others to avoid or get their accounts back should they fall into the same trap.

Omg this is so terrible. Just clicking the email huh, that is terrifying. Thank you for raising awareness, I will avoid even opening emails from unknown sources. Really sorry this happened Mike. Thank you for making this video. 🙏🏽

@mikesbookreviews

Ай бұрын

It really is scary. Can't be careful enough nowadays.

Thank you for this video!!! I had no idea how they got into my channel until this - mine was an email for Divinci Resolve, which I opened and turned down. That happened the day before I was hacked. It never occurred to me that that would be it - because I just opened the email. Again, thank you for this. So much closure.

@mikesbookreviews

Ай бұрын

Content creators are being targeted with all kinds of things like this now. It's crazy!

Thanks for sharing this information, Mike! I am not a creator, but it could happen to anyone. My husband’s Amazon account got hacked, and the hackers also cut off the two step verification as well. Also, I got scammed by someone calling me, supposedly from my bank. When the phone rang, the Caller Id had my bank name! The hackers are slick!

That’s scary. You should probably use a dedicated mail to access the KZread account, and another mail for everything else.

@mikesbookreviews

Ай бұрын

That's the plan.

Man i knew exactly what happened when i saw that stream, felt bad for you but yeah I was surprised you got everything back so soon, after seeing how long it took rick recently.

So sorry this happened to you and I'm glad you managed to get back without losing anything! (I'm currently going through your older videos because I'm quite new and was already crying that I wouldn't be able to watch the rest of them) Also thank you for sharing your experience and the way you got the channel back! Hopefully it will raise awareness and can be of help to those who encounter the same problem

Very happy to see you get the channel back. I got so many amazing reccos from your channel and it gave me the courage to start my own small booktube channel. And thanks for such a thorough breakdown for preventing these kinds of malware/ransomware attacks. Will be more vigilant.

Dang, I had no idea. Thank goodness it worked out. It could've been so much worse. Stay safe, man.

Wow. I've sneak peeked so many fishy looking emails, assuming I was safe by not clicking anything. And that's after watching hours of videos from anti-scammer channels like Jim Browning (who also got his channel hacked at one point). This is a very important PSA. Also kinda mind boggling that KZread's system for fixing this is so clunky that you have to contact them on a different platform

@mikesbookreviews

Ай бұрын

That's why I wanted to share the experience so others will know since this will only happen more and more.

Man, that is rough. Sorry to hear this happened to you. Glad you managed to recover your channel. Having all that stress is rough, make sure you are looking after yourself. Keep up the great content.

I'm sorry this happened to you and glad that you got everything sorted. Also, I like the image update!

So glad your videos didn't get deleted! I go back and watch all sorts of your old reviews as I read through those books. Also, so good to hear about the danger first hand and in depth like that. Glad you have your channel back!

Thanks so much for sharing to create more awareness, it's ridiculous how sneakily good they have gotten! Definitely going to be more alert myself!

So Scary! there are times I accidentally open emails while trying to mark them as Spam...gunna be more careful.

So sorry this happened to you brother. Really great informative video you made - you did a service to the community for people who may need the help one day. Cheers! Glad to have you back.

That was a great video to watch. I leaned a lot from it and I'm glad you got your channel back !

@mikesbookreviews

Ай бұрын

Glad it helped!

Thanks for sharing this Mike. Really appreciate you raising awareness. I had no idea this could happen just from opening an email. That’s so scary. Really glad it’s worked out ok in the end. Take care.

That's nuts that you have to contact the KZread team through Twitter. Anyway, I am so glad you're back because this channel was nearly the first booktube channel I subscribed to and remains one of my "go to" channels.

So sorry you had to go through all that Mike. I can't imagine the stress. Welcome back mate.

Sorry this happened but glad you recovered relatively quickly! Thanks for sharing the experience with community!

@mikesbookreviews

Ай бұрын

Happy to raise awareness.

Glad you got the channel back! Another channel I follow Alex Hefner who does movie and music reactions got hacked by the same group at the same time you did. He also had some trouble getting back in but did.

Glad you got it back man. Must have been preety scary to have something so important to you stolen. Thank you for spreading awareness to others!

Glad you’re back! Best book channel anywhere!

So glad that you got this resolved!!

I'm sorry this happened to you and thank you for talking about it. I don't have a Twitter account so hopefully this won't happen to me, but my parents are constantly warning me about this. They always tell me don't open anything and if anything, it makes me overly cautious.

So glad you got it sorted quickly. I can’t imagine how stressful that must have been.

Oof, what a scare! I'm so glad you got it figured out and you're back, and above all, that it didn't end up being worse! Big hug for you 💙

I'm just glad mike your channel came out the other side unscathed. Thank you for doing this video. No doubt it'll help a lot of other channels.👍:-)

@mikesbookreviews

Ай бұрын

I'm hoping so!

Great sharing Mikes and it's good to see Google was relatively quick to solve your issue. It kinda scary that just by opening the email, i suspect it must be some kind of script or something that the browser run automatically without your knowledge :-(. Hacker always find new exploit and it can take a little bit before it actually get patch on the application or OS side.

So sad to hear that happened to you Mike! Glad it was resolved as quickly as it was as it could've been so much worse👊🏾💯!

@mikesbookreviews

Ай бұрын

I'm quite thankful.

Appreciate you taking the time to let everyone know about this hacking issue. Glad that you were able to get your channel back as well.

What a nightmare, Mike. I'm glad it was sorted so quickly and thanks for the tips on how to get it resolved.

Can't believe this happened,I'm so glad to hear that you've got everything back so fast. I unsubscribed during the bitcoin live stream because I didn't want to gave them any satisfaction at all but I was back the moment you recovered everything. As long as you do book related videos,I will be here to support you. Have a nice day.

Thank you for sharing this experience. As a new channel, I really appreciate learning from your experience!

So glad to see you're back! I was so worried when I saw what happened.

So sorry to hear. But glad your OK and up and running 👍

I'm sorry this happened to you Mike, that must have been so scary. Good PSA on general internet security, it's crazy how advanced some have gotten 😥

Good to have ya back Mike. Going to leave this comment here to help boost the channel in the algorithm:)

Glad you got your channel back! I did unsubscribe when your channel was hacked, I thought I had accidentally subscribed to Microstratey. When I realized it I resubscribed!

So glad you got it sorted!!

@mikesbookreviews

Ай бұрын

It was not fun ha ha

What a terrible thing to have happened! Been watching your channel since the first lockdown and it is such a relief to hear all is now OK!

Holy crap didn’t know that could happen from clicking on an email. Sorry that happened but glad you’re back up and running so fast!

I'm glad you got it fixed Mike you and your channel keep the love of reading in my heart.

@mikesbookreviews

Ай бұрын

Thanks!

Thank you for the informational video Mike

Legit so terrifying. Thank you for spotlighting this, Mike. Glad you got your channel back!

Mike is awesome he still has the same feel and is still completely calm. He treats this video like every other.

@mikesbookreviews

Ай бұрын

Oh, I'm calm now. But I was a disheveled mess while it was going on ha ha

@Raptorzilla7777

Ай бұрын

@@mikesbookreviews I am glad you got your channel back I much prefer hearing about Dune and Steven King over bitcoin

Glad to see you are back Mike!

Glad you got your channel back Mike!!

Glad you got the channel back Mike. It's always impoetant to have the tightest security possible when being a video creator on KZread.

Jeeeez, this sounds scary! Handled it well though, Mike. Glad you got it all sorted now.

Man. I went camping and came back to this whirlwind. So glad you got it all recovered.

Glad you're all recovered. How scary. Those scammers pics me off so bad. Glad you didn't like anything.

Just commenting to help the algorithm find those 2000 and get them back. Glad it resolved and you're okay.

Glad to see you back up and running, Mike! ❤️

One good extra layer of security is to have completely different email address you use for business contacts and using a separate device or sandbox where to open the emails for added security.

glad to see you got it fixed!

Glad some of the best content on KZread never got deleted and that you are back

@mikesbookreviews

Ай бұрын

I was concerned for a day there ha ha

@simonedwards9450

Ай бұрын

@@mikesbookreviews same - not as much as you, but I love it when I get a notification to say you’ve uploaded a new video :-)

Thanks for the info 👍

Glad you got your account back! I would consider blurring the QR code in this video so none can accidentally scan it!

The reason they can turn off the 2FA is because Google REFUSES to enable an authentication prompt for turning off 2FA. That simple fix could stop all of this happening because it should allow you to get back in and sign out all instances of your account but Google does not care. Also, it sounds like they just stole the cookie session for your Google account. Previously they were doing this via PDF attachments. I wonder if now they used an image in the email to initiate this. In any event, happy you got your channel back.

Appreciate you sharing. I know you also have Gmail. Were you just using your internet browser or do you use a desktop email app? Just trying to learn more. I heard it's good to disable images so I just did that

I get notifications on my phone's lock screen from you and my daughter's birthday party on Saturday I pulled my phone out of my pocket to take pictures and I had a notification from "Mike's Book Reviews" that was streaming something live, I thought you had a guest on that I didn't know about 😂

This is terrifying! The act of opening an email, I'd never think that would do it. I work for a mortgage company and have gone thru probably the same sort of rampant training on cyber-security.

Glad your back brother

Hey Mick, glad it all worked out for you in the end. Quick question about the email, did you open it in a software on your computer, or did you use the gmail website?

Its crazy how sophisticated these scammers can get. So glad you managed to get it back and everything seems back in order.

I am so glad you're back.

Good to have you back

Glad you got it back!

That's a close one. Glad you're back in the saddle

It's not possible to get hacked just by opening an email... The bad news is that disabling the 2 factor authorization might indicate that they did a SIM swap - they tricked your carrier into porting your number to a new device.

So very sorry!!! Thanks for fighting the good fight! 😊

Glad i saw your instagram before the live stream. I would have been one of the ones to unsubscribe. Scary stuff. I am glad you got everything back under control

Hey Mike, sorry to hear what happened to you! Could you please provide more details on which client you used to open the email? Was it the Gmail web app or did you use a third-party email client?

How freaky! I had no idea this stuff was possible! So glad you got your channel and email back! Yikes!

So glad to here there was happy ending to this. Totally agree about the 2FA thing though. What's the point in that if you don't get a notification.

I remember something similar happened to Linus tech tips, it's frustrating. happy that everything ended well.

Tough time. Glad that you got your account back, Mike.

This was so harrowing to see…. Thanks for talking about it.

This is horrible, how it seems so easy to get hacked. Is there any way to back up your previous videos, just in case they managed to delete the videos? Or could YT not recover videos if they got deleted? I am very worried that it seems easy to override the 2 step verification too.

this is terrifying. I had no idea just opening an email could do this

That's pretty impressive that they compromised something if you didn't run anything but just read the email. I wonder if they used a new browser vulnerability (Chrome? webp image vulnerability?).

Crazy stuff! I'm afraid to check my email now. I've been hacked before, but I didn't have a KZread channel... I still don't know how it happened. I don't click links, I've been doing this a long time.

I wouldn't be surprised if people called this channel "Mikero Strategy Reviews" 😆

@mikesbookreviews

Ай бұрын

I'll allow it.

Which way did you open the gmail email? on the browser? phone app? or desktop software?

@too1leasy

Ай бұрын

I like Mike, but I'm having a REALLY difficult time believing he just "opened an email" and the hackers got his stuff.

@hettige

Ай бұрын

@@too1leasy yeah same. i want better info

@hamsandwich123

Ай бұрын

@@too1leasy yeah that would be a gargantuan exploit in gmail for this to happen. I’m guessing Mike accidentally clicked a link or attachment

@hamsandwich123

Ай бұрын

@@too1leasy yeah it's extremely unlikely he opened the email and his account got hacked. it would be a code red, defcon 1 level of exploit in gmail if that happened. gonna guess he clicked a link or attachment by accident (totally understandable)

Perhaps I missed it, but what did you use to open the email? (Web browser, email client, etc...) I ask because perhaps there is a vulnerability in whatever you used to access your email.

Just a little something to make you feel better. Watch the movie "The Beekeeper," though it is fiction, it will make you feel better after watching it. It stars Jason Statham and about hackers.

@mikesbookreviews

Ай бұрын

I'll look it up!

So glad you got your channel back, good sir! My husband’s mantras are 1) trust but verify and 2) eternal vigilance and nothing less. The more of the world I see the more I believe those words!

I thought you had a second channel..glad to see the universe has corrected itself..

Sorry you got hacked. Quick question are you going to get a Kobo color model ereader?

Glad you got your channel back. I think we can all say hackers, bitcoin and all that BS is the worst.