A number of high profile accounts have been hacked on Twitter, all tweeting out Bitcoin scams. Reported by CNET, the Twitter accounts of Bill Gates, Kanye West, Elon Musk, Apple, and other high profile and verified accounts have been compromised, all tweeting out a similar Bitcoin scam.
Kanye’s since deleted tweet said “I am giving back to my fans. All Bitcoin sent to my address below will be sent back doubled. I am only doing a maximum of $10,000,000.” The Bitcoin address given in the tweet was identical to the address in Gates’, Musk’s, and Apple’s hacked tweets.
The official Twitter Support account posted a statement saying that they are aware of the issue and are investigating.
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.
— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) July 15, 2020
A spokesperson for Gates confirmed that the tweet was not sent by Gates and it part of a larger issue that Twitter is aware of and actively dealing with.
NEW — statement from a spokesperson for Bill Gates.
“We can confirm that this tweet was not sent by Bill Gates. This appears to be part of a larger issue that Twitter is facing. Twitter is aware and working to restore the account.” pic.twitter.com/v37Jvs76Jl— Teddy Schleifer (@teddyschleifer) July 15, 2020
The official Cash App account also sent out a similar tweet, however it contained a different Bitcoin address. A number of crypto currency accounts, like Gemini and Coinbase, have also been compromised. It is currently unknown how all of these accounts are being accessed, but the large number of high-profile accounts being accessed suggests a serious security issue.
At the time of writing this, the scammers Bitcoin address has reportedly gained about $100,000 from the scams, according to the publicly visible transactions.
You should be wary of any tweets you see related to sending Bitcoin to people and in the wise words of DrLupo,
Don’t send money to a random Bitcoin address.
— DrLupo (@DrLupo) July 15, 2020
This story is developing
