Hi Everyone! I am George Pierce, I have several YT channels and have received at least a dozen strikes over the years. All but one have been bogus, but most of these strikes come from scammers, which can have serious, dire, and financially devastating consequences! This post is about what to do when you get a YouTube strike.
When one of my channels gets a strike, my instinct is to remove the strike, and get my video back online, and you will probably feel the same way. So you are probably going to make the same mistake that I have made, which is to contact the claimant and politely ask them to remove their claim.
Before I continue, the following is based on my experiences and my opinion, it is for informational purposes only. It is not meant as legal advice.
So, in my opinion, do NOT do that, at least not yet. Based on my experience, only one claim was legit, so over 90% has been bogus. And if you are feeling like I felt, you want to immediately let it be known that this is a bogus claim...WRONG! This is what YT tells us to do, and even what the gurus are saying...
I totally disagree!
Think about this! If the claim is bogus...it is probably coming from a scammer, yes, it could be an accident, but, I repeat, it is probably coming from a scammer.
WHOA!
If the YT strike is the result of a scammer, you may not be aware of what a scammer can do with your phone number.
1. SCAM Calls! Annoying, and possibly financially harmful, scam calls can be blocked, but this is only the beginning.
2. Financial Accounts! Your cell number is usually linked to bank accounts, social security benefits, and more!
3. SCAM Texts!
4. Phishing using your number!
5. Rerouting your number!
6. SIM swapping and port-out scams
7. AI Voice Scams
8. Mine your private data.
9. Send malware.
10. Spoof your phone.
My point is that if this strike is a scam, you want to protect yourself. You want to LOOK before you leap.
I am going to be using real proof of real scams, to demonstrate how this works and how it can help you.
At this point, however, here is a way to help validate whether there is a chance that the claim is legit.
Go to the US copyright records https://publicrecords dot copyright dot gov/
Search for the copyright of the content in question.
The above is a movie that is in the Public Domain. When something is in the Public Domain, no permission or license is needed for you to use the content. The Visual Ventures claims authorship and therefore the rights (copyright) to this movie. If that were a legit claim. it should show up, it does not. This does not guarantee that their claim is not legit, but since their claim is not showing up. it may be that this is a scam. So take heed.
Let's get back to how to find out if this claim is a scam.
What you see above are two contact emails. The two most recent claims. YouTube will provide you with an email address, the idea is to contact the claimant.
Do not contact the claimant,
instead, copy the URL. The URL is that part of the email address that follows the @ sign.
Next, go to "Who Is". Type "Who Is" in your search box. Who Is will show us who owns this domain.
Specifically, as you see above, the address and phone number will show up.
Often the address revealed does not match the address shown on the website, which may not be a big deal, RIAA, for example, has different addresses but both are in Arizona...however, the visual ventures has a UK address on the website and a US registrar. Hmmm?
A search of the address will usually reveal scam complaints if this is a scam. A search of the PHONE Number will almost always reveal scam complaints.
There is more to this than I am sharing such as an official-looking court order, but the sitting Judge retired in 2010, and passed away in 2018, and the law firm does not exist...and, how do I know this?
Since it is quite evident that I am being scammed, I do not trust anything about the scammer. Therefore, RESEARCH, everything. You will probably be amazed at what you find.
Remember that the scammer wants your phone number!
Scammers are going to do whatever they can to get it, and an emotional path such as your getting angry is exactly what they want. At some point, you will be given a phone number...DO NOT call. The phone number is a trap, you will probably get an endless loop or a 'bad connection', but the scammer has your number...and any or all of the 10 consequences above can happen.
Now what?
I am sorry to say that YT is not going to be sympathetic. Their policy seems to be to sweep this stuff under the rug, and you cannot blame them. Unfortunately, their policy is to sweep the YT creator under the rug, as well. I believe the treatment of their creators is looked upon as abuse, and it will change, but until it does, share whatever you have found that indicates that this is a scam with YT and that you do not want them to share any information about you.
I hope that YT will modify its actions since it seems that almost every claim is a scam. They may not be able to restore your video, and you cannot blame them, they are protecting you as well as YT, but let's hope this will help change how they treat the creators.
Best of all, you have not divulged your phone number!
Thank you for reading.
Much success,
George Pierce
PS. The one legitimate claim resulted in the immediate shutdown of that channel and two more. It was one strike and out. I did get the two innocent channels back online, but not the one with the strike. My point is to do your best to avoid strikes, hopefully, you will not receive any, and, then, if you do get a strike, you will change how you respond, since you now know that it is probably a scam.
PPS. If making money online interests you, please visit my YT channel and check out my free training.
PPPS. If you are getting scam calls, or think you are, a reverse phone number lookup service may help, it will reveal details such as name, location, and carrier.
Attribution: First mobile scam (joke ~ below)
My credit card number is...
The FIRST Satelite Driven Mobile Phone Scam Call
Comments
I found it smart to listen to what George says. Believe me you don't want to go through what I did before I met George. You would honestly be surprised at what damage can be done to your finances with only your phone number and a recording of your voice. Now days I avoid the word yes in any phone conversation.
With AI, the scammers are more capable than ever, and their traps are better and better, thank you, Dennis.
This is great information to know with tips and advice on how to handle this situation. I have been knowing you a long time George Pierce and I know your main goal is to help people. You're doing that my friend.
This advice has not worked as far as saving the channel, at least, not for me, that is not the real issue, and we need to let YT know. YT handles this terribly and is very poorly rated as far as the Better Business Bureau and Trust Pilot. TikTok has been outperforming YT on watch time for over two years. If YT kills a channel, it is no big deal, we can switch our efforts to other social media platforms. Rumble instantly monetizes, for example. The idea is to determine if your complaint is from a scammer, if so, do not engage and let YT know not to share any info. Thank you, Terri.