Twitter accounts belonging to several high profile individuals and companies were hacked this afternoon, in an attempt to get people to send Bitcoin to the hacker’s accounts.
Among those accounts compromised so far include Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Apple, Kanye West, Barack Obama, Warren Buffet, Jeff Bezos, and several others.
The tweets, which have since been deleted, attempt to lure unsuspecting individuals by claiming that however much someone sends in Bitcoin, they will receive double the amount in return.
It appears that the hackers have so far been successful in potentially receiving millions of dollars in the scam.
If you look at the hacker’s blockchain, 5,314 people have fallen for the scam already, and sent these hackers $7.8M USD thus far. Wow. pic.twitter.com/9rFEoXM2BO
— Duncan (@cdn_123) July 15, 2020
Twitter is now aware of the issue, and posted an announcement through the official Twitter Support account that they are looking into it. Unfortunately, that tweet came well over an hour after the first fraudulent tweets were sent out.
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
The market responded to the news of the hack with shares of Twitter down nearly 5% in after-hours trading.
Developing story, check back for updates…
Featured image via Business Insider
