The latest series of online Elon Musk impersonations is putting Twitter back in the crypto hot seat.
Hackers are using Elon Musk’s name, bio and image to hack other verified Twitter accounts and transform them into “official” Elon Musk accounts. They then use the newly created fake Musk accounts to lure victims into donating Bitcoin. The ploy has raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Target got hacked this morning, reports The Verge.
“Early this morning, Target’s Twitter account was inappropriately accessed. The access lasted for approximately half an hour and one fake tweet was posted during that time about a bitcoin scam. We’re in close contact with Twitter, have deleted the tweet and have locked the account while we investigate further.”
The simple call-to-action tells people to send the Musk imposter their crypto.
“I decided to make the biggest crypto-giveaway in the world, for all my readers who use Bitcoin… To verify your [bitcoin] address, send from 0.1 to 2 BTC to the address below and get from 1 to 20 BTC back.”
The Twitter community is chiming in with tips on how to stop the hackers who keep casting a scammy halo around Bitcoin.
The fake promoted tweets manage to dupe users as the tweets bearing Elon Musk’s name go viral.
The latest scam tweet allegedly from Musk raked in $37,000 shortly after it was posted, reports TechCrunch. It involved hack of clothing retailer @FarahMenswear who has 15,500 followers. After his account promoted an Elon Musk “bitcoin giveaway,” the designated bitcoin address received over 5.84 Bitcoin, or roughly $37,000.
According to a report by The Independent, cryptocurrency addresses on the blockchain reveal that over 400 crypto enthusiasts, eager to help Musk, sent more then 28.2 Bitcoin to the scammers during the last hack on November 6, worth roughly $177,000.
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