In what comes as a surprise to the market, Rapper Wiz Khalifa’s X account is thought to have been compromised on November 3rd, following the posting of a fraudulent memecoin to the rapper’s 35.7 million followers.
The purported hackers who took over Khalifa’s X account claimed in a since-deleted post to X on November 3 that the rapper had been “working with [his] team to drop $WIZ for all the crypto fam.”
The hacking comes at a time when this practice has been made a every second day occurrence in the crypto markets. Hackers usually target people who have a lot of followers to promote coins, schemes or ICO.
Independent blockchain investigator ZachXBT thinks the same hacker was behind the October 29 takeover of Truth Terminal developer Andy Ayrey’s account, even though the precise identity of the potential attacker and the technique used in Khalifa’s hack are still unknown.
X Ads and Account Hacking For Crypto Promotion Sees Rise
Bitcoin scammers have been targeting many influential people lately. Hackers on X (formerly Twitter) have targeted a number of well-known US individuals, including billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Bill Gates.
This year started with the hack of Mandiant’s twitter hack. For more than six hours in January 2024, Mandiant’s X (formerly Twitter) account was compromised and used to advertise a cryptocurrency scam. Links to an airdrop scam were posted by the account, which was renamed to mimic the Phantom cryptocurrency wallet.
Additionally, ads on X are being abused by cybercriminals to advertise cryptocurrency scam websites. In order to expand the reach of cryptocurrency scams, threat actors are also taking over verified accounts on social media platforms.
Ads with scam links may not be visible to all users because X, like the majority of other social media platforms, displays ads according to a user’s interests. However, according to a Bleeping Computer report, the quantity of ads containing scams has grown to the point where users are writing community notes alerting others to the fact that they are scams or wallet drainers.
Who Do Scammers Usually Target?
Scammers frequently use claims of large profits and low risks to entice victims. People with a large fan following, social media followers, public liking or credibility are usual victims to this practice.
To attract investors who are unfamiliar with the cryptocurrency space, hackers also fabricate fake websites and social media profiles that look like trustworthy investment platforms.
Scammers also frequently impersonate well-known cryptocurrency wallets or exchanges. They frequently ask for deposits that are never reimbursed and offer phony giveaways or promotions on social media.