Canadian rapper Drake became the latest victim of a high-profile social media hack over the weekend, as his X account was used to promote a fraudulent Solana-based memecoin. The coin, dubbed “$ANITA,” purportedly ties to Drake’s cartoon alter ego, Anita Max Wynn, and exploited his association with Stake, a popular crypto gambling platform he frequently endorses.
The hack, targeting Drake’s 39 million followers, falsely claimed that $ANITA was launched in partnership with Stake and tied to his Anita Max Wynn Tour, which is set to bring him to Australia and New Zealand after a six-year hiatus. According to blockchain analytics platform DexScreener, the fraudulent coin recorded $5 million in trading volume before investors realized the scheme was a scam. The misleading posts have since been removed from Drake’s account.
Rising Wave of High-Profile Hacks
Drake’s compromised account is part of a troubling trend of celebrity-targeted hacks on X. Just a week earlier, the Cardano Foundation’s X account fell victim to a similar scam, promoting another fraudulent memecoin that garnered a fraction of $ANITA’s trading volume.
Other celebrities, including Cardi B, Doja Cat, Metallica, and Wiz Khalifa, have also been targeted. Notably, Wiz Khalifa’s account, with its 35.7 million followers, was hijacked in early November to promote a bogus cryptocurrency token called “$WIZ” in what appeared to be a pump-and-dump scheme leveraging his brand recognition.
These scams not only exploit the public’s trust in high-profile figures but also tarnish the already precarious reputation of cryptocurrency projects, making it harder for legitimate ventures to gain investor confidence.
Crypto Investors Urged to Stay Vigilant
The Drake hack highlights the urgent need for heightened security protocols for celebrity social media accounts and more rigorous scrutiny from investors when engaging with crypto promotions. Hackers are increasingly leveraging the trust and influence of well-known figures to propagate scams, luring unsuspecting individuals into pump-and-dump schemes.
While the fraudulent $ANITA coin’s trading activity ceased relatively quickly, the incident underscores the risks of jumping into investments based solely on celebrity endorsements, especially when promoted on compromised platforms.
As the cryptocurrency space continues to grow, protecting its integrity will require a concerted effort from both social media platforms and the broader crypto community.
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