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High-profile Twitter accounts hijacked to tweet crypto scams

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Miguel A. Rodriguez
Miguel A. Rodriguez
14 settembre 2020
"Tough day for us at Twitter. We all feel terrible this happened."

Let’s break down what this tough day meant for Twitter. Earlier this week, many prominent accounts tweeted that any bitcoin sent to a specified link in the following 30 minutes will be sent back doubled. The message appeared on profiles of Elon Musk, former US President Obama, Mike Bloomberg, the presidential candidate Joe Biden, Uber, an unused Apple corporate account, and many more.

The problematic tweets got deleted within minutes after they were posted. 

In response, Twitter took measures to stop other official verified accounts to post, and disabled the account functions. 

According to CoinDesk, not only high-profile accounts were hacked, but also those belonging to cryptocurrencies and crypto influencers like Gemini, KuCoin, Ripple, Cash App, Coinbase, CoinDesk, and many more. 

The perpetrators' identities are unknown, but when the cyberattack took place, on Instagram appeared a profile that posted a message reading: "It was a charity attack. Your money will find its way to the right place." 

The crypto prices didn't budge over the event, and Bitcoin dropped only 0.1%, falling to $9,200. However, Twitter shares lost more than 4% in after-hours trading. According to specialists, such decline could leave the company's market cap $1 billion short.

Read more about the social media platforms on CAPEX.com!

Sources: marketwatch.com, bbc.com


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Miguel A. Rodriguez
Miguel A. Rodriguez
financial_writer

Miguel ha lavorato per importanti istituzioni finanziarie, come Banco Santander e Banco Central-Hispano. È autore di libri sul trading di valuta con diverse pubblicazioni alle spalle.