Multiple X Accounts, Including GMA Network and ABS-CBN News Compromised to Promote $HACKED Token
The X accounts of local and international giant entities were compromised on the midnight of September 19, 2024.
- The unknown hacker promoted the $HACKED token on Solana Network and posted using the compromised accounts from around 12:00 a.m. to 2:30 a.m.
What’s the significance: Compromising social media accounts to promote cryptocurrency has a negative impact in the eyes of the public about the blockchain industry.
Which X Accounts Were Compromised: Here is a list of local and international entities whose X accounts were compromised and promoted $HACKED token:
- ABS-CBN News with 9.5 million followers and a verified account.
- GM Network with 1.7 million followers and a verified account.
- SM Cinema with 92,800 followers.
- Wilbros Live with 720,600 followers and a verified account.
- Yahoo News UK with 44,800 followers.
- World Health Organization with 12.2 million followers and a verified account.
- Great British Menu with 50,900 followers and a verified account.
- EUinmyRegion with 94,700 followers and a verified account.
- Moneycontrol with 1.4 million followers and a verified account.
- Krystal with 93,800 followers and a verified account.
- Astroplus with 46,000 followers.
- People Magazine with 7.8 million followers and a verified account.
What is About the Post? All the compromised accounts posted only one message:
“THIS IS HACKED ACCOUNT!
INTRODUCING $HACKED ON SOLANA
on each account we hack we publish the token address so we pump it and make profits together.
CA: 9ydCjcbvD4ugNjBufjn1jeU9U1pPNiUMRbwFTj7UzgTi
BUY NOW!”
Between the lines: This seems to be a marketing strategy to pump and dump the token called $HACKED.
- According to the investigation by online publication BleepingComputer, at around 12 midnight, the token only had 42 token holders with a market cap of approximately $5,000.
- And this marketing strategy seems to be effective, as hours after the midnight posts, there were almost 500 token holders with a market cap of more than $150,000.
- In a pump-and-dump scheme, the creator or the community of a cryptocurrency makes a loud noise on social media, hyping everyone so the market interest will increase, leading to the token’s price pumping.
- After all the early investors took profit, they will calm down the hype, leading to the token’s price dumping.
- Bottom line: Only early investors profit from this scheme. Anyone should avoid joining this type of fraud.
As of this writing, no official statement from X has been released on how these verified pages with a large number of followers have been compromised.
- There are speculations that that incident was through a compromised API key or third-party apps linked to the accounts.
Zoom Out: This is not the first time that a local entity’s social media account has been compromised and promoted crypto-related marketing.
- In April 2023, the verified X account of the Department of Health (DOH) Philippines was hacked and promoted a fake Uniswap airdrop
- Then in July 2024, the official YouTube channel of the popular Filipino band Ben&Ben, with three million subscribers, was also compromised and livestreamed a video promoting $XRP, Ripple Network’s native token.
- Some reports also said that the channels of P-Pop Band SB19 and singer Rico Blanco also experienced similar incidents.
This article is published on BitPinas: Multiple X Accounts, Including GMA Network and ABS-CBN News Compromised to Promote $HACKED Token
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