Meghan Rienks hits out at YouTube after channel is hacked by rogue brand

Meghan Rienks, YouTube / Freepik.com

Social media star Meghan Rienks is calling out YouTube after her secondary channel was hacked by a rogue beauty brand  — and the issue remains unsolved despite multiple attempts at restoring it over the course of months.

Rienks uploaded a video on the subject on March 2, where she gave fans an in-depth explanation for the sudden disappearance of her main YouTube channel back in fall 2019.

According to the YouTube star, a hacker had tried to gain access to multiple social media accounts, including her YouTube channels, Twitter, and SnapChat profiles.

Article continues after ad
Meghan Rienks, Instagram
Popular internet star Meghan Rienks is in the middle of a feud with YouTube, after her secondary channel was hacked by a rogue beauty brand.

While Rienks changed her passwords and thought everything was resolved, this was not the case, as she later found that her main channel was showing as “removed,” and was hidden from viewers trying to look up her videos.

That’s not all: her second vlog channel was completely taken over by a rogue beauty brand months later, who replaced all of her content with beauty compilation videos that she described as “ripped from Instagram” accounts.

Article continues after ad
Meghan Rienks, Twitter
Rienks’ secondary vlog channel has been hacked and replaced with beauty compilation videos, with her original recovery email for the account being completely deleted.

However, this wasn’t the most frustrating part of the ordeal — Rienks tried multiple times to contact YouTube in an effort to restore both her channels, leading to typo’d emails and even notifications her contact had “gone on holiday,” as well as confusing responses that seemed to have been composed by bots.

The rogue videos on her hacked channel were also accompanied by comments from bot accounts, and her email account associated with the vlog channel had been deleted, adding an even more disturbing layer to the already frightening case of Rienks’ YouTube drama.

Article continues after ad

She likewise claimed to have come across forums where her account was sold by hackers for a mere $500 price point, which has since resulted in the loss of thousands of subscribers.

Needless to say, the content creator was left baffled beyond belief, with her situation catching the eyes of fellow YouTubers like Shane Dawson, who brought awareness to the issue with his viral retweet on February 23.

Finally, YouTube agreed to hop on a phone call with Rienks after her forty-five minute long video explaining the debacle caught fire — and, according to her Tweet on the subject, did not go well.

Article continues after ad

For now, it looks like both Rienks and her fans are left in the dark as the YouTuber continues her efforts to recover a massively subscribed channel she once owned.