The Twitter accounts for some high profile people, such as Elon Musk and Barack Obama, were hacked as part of a Bitcoin scam.
The Bitcoin scam is a tried-and-true one in which the victims are told that if they send BTC to a specific address, they’ll get double that amount back. Naturally, the victims don’t get anything in return. This time around, perpetrators take control of Twitter to set out a big crypto scam.
Massive breach on Twitter
The scale of the hack on Twitter is pretty impressive. The accounts for quite a few famous people, as well as several companies, were compromised in the attack.
Here is a list of some of the notable accounts taken over by the hackers:
- Elon Musk
- Joe Biden
- Mike Bloomberg
- Kim Kardashian
- Warren Buffett
- Gemini
- Bill Gates
- Barack Obama
- Uber
- Kanye West
- Binance
- Apple
- Coindesk
- Wiz Khalifa
- Bitcoin
- Floyd Mayweather
- Jeff Bezos
Twitter responded to the attack with the following statement: “We are aware of a security incident impacting accounts on Twitter. We are investigating and taking steps to fix it. We will update everyone shortly.”
It appears that the Bitcoin scam posts have been removed and most of the compromised accounts returned to the control of their rightful owners.
However, the scam was profitable. Over US$100,000 in bitcoins was sent to the Bitcoin address listed in the scam.
Sen. Hawley advised Twitter to seek government help
The social media giant said that the attack was due to one of its employees having their accounts compromised by hackers.
Users of a hacking forum posted screenshots of Twitter’s administrative panel, which showed internal details of user accounts.
The Bitcoin scam hacking attack has caused notice from the federal government. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) reached out to Twitter saying the social media company should contact the FBI and Department of Justice for help.
In his letter to the social media company, Senator Hawley said, “I am concerned that this event may represent not merely a coordinated set of separate hacking incidents but rather a successful attack on the security of Twitter itself.”
He added, “As you know, millions of your users rely on your service not just to tweet publicly but also to communicate privately through your direct message service. A successful attack on your system’s servers represents a threat to all of your users’ privacy and data security.”
This hack is just the latest in cryptocurrency scams that use the names and likenesses of famous people to lure the unwary. If something sounds too good to be true, such as instantly doubling your Bitcoin, then it probably is.
Images courtesy of Edar/Pixabay, JD Lasica/Wikimedia Commons