On Sunday, hackers gained access to the official Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube accounts of the British Army and advertised illegal nonfungible token (NFT) collecting and cryptocurrency scams for over four hours.
For over four hours, hackers obtained access to a number of British Army official social media accounts, where they posted phishing and cryptocurrency links.
Fake derivatives
On Sunday, shortly after 2:00 EST, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) Press Office of the United Kingdom tweeted that it was aware that the Army’s social media accounts had been hijacked, and an investigation had been started.
Around 5:45 p.m. EST, The Office provided an update and announced that the account breaches had been resolved. The British Army’s official Twitter account also expressed regret over the tweets, promising to look into them and “learn from them.”
Hackers are marketing at least two fake derivatives of The Possessed and BAPESCLAN NFT collections, according to screenshots of the British Army’s official Twitter account that users have shared online.
In one picture, the hackers are seen pinning a tweet to a phony mint of The Possessed NFT collection. The link in this tweet is a phishing scam that, if clicked, would empty victims’ bitcoin wallets of all of their funds.
Tom Watson, one of the collection’s writers, informed his followers of the incorrect information and urged them to report it.
The hackers posted Livestream recordings of fictitious interviews with Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey and Elon Musk on YouTube under the renamed account that resembled the Cathie Wood-founded investment business Ark Invest. These videos attracted thousands of viewers.
How do cryptocurrency scams work?
The uploaded movies on the hacked YouTube channel advertised additional cryptocurrency giveaway scams using QR codes and asked viewers to contribute bitcoin to them in the hopes of receiving double back.
At this point, it is unclear who carried out the attack, how they succeeded, or how many individuals may have been duped by the phishing and scam links.
According to reports, up to $1 billion was lost to cryptocurrency fraudsters in 2021, with social media platforms accounting for up to half of all cryptocurrency-related scams.
Social media and cryptocurrencies have even been called a “combustible combo for fraud” by the US Federal Trade Commission.
The British Army has subsequently removed all of the links, tweets, and related content from the hacked accounts.
Late in May, links to a phishing website were posted on the Twitter account of NFT artist Beeple, which resulted in the attacker receiving approximately $438,000 in cryptocurrency and many NFTs. The links were designed to resemble a “surprise mint” off a fresh Beeple NFT line.
Later in June, the upcoming Duppies NFT collection’s hijacked Twitter account released a similar stealth mint phishing link. At least one victim lost 650 Solana (SOL), which was then valued at around $18,850.
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Andrew is a blockchain developer who developed his interest in cryptocurrencies while his post-graduation. He is a keen observer of details and shares his passion for writing along with being a developer. His backend knowledge about blockchain helps him give a unique perspective to his writing
Source: https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2022/07/04/crypto-scammers-hacked-british-armys-social-media-accounts-know-more/