High-profile Twitter accounts targeted in bitcoin scam

A number of major Twitter accounts, including those of billionaires Bill Gates and Elon Musk, as well as Silicon Valley giants Apple and Uber, were seemingly hacked on Wednesday, as part of a scam to dupe social media users into making bitcoin donations. 

Twitter posts, which have since been deleted, were fired off from an array of high profile accounts telling users of the social media platform they had 30 minutes to send $1,000 (€876) in bitcoin donations in order to double their money. 

“This is a SCAM, DO NOT participate!” Gemini cryptocurrency exchange co-founder Cameron Winklevoss tweeted from his official account.

“This is the same attack/takeover that other major crypto twitter accounts are experiencing. Be vigilant!”

The accounts of Kanye West, Jeff Bezos and Mike Bloomberg were among those who made the bogus posts, all from their verified profiles. 

Many of the tweets were quickly deleted.

Twitter: We’re working on it

Twitter responded to the hack by saying it is “aware of a security incident impacting accounts on Twitter.”

“We are investigating and taking steps to fix it. We will update everyone shortly.”

jsi/dr (Reuters, dpa, AFP) 

Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/high-profile-twitter-accounts-targeted-in-bitcoin-scam/a-54192515?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf