On-chain detective ZachXBT revealed on X on December 24 that a hacker impersonated X officials to issue false infringement notices to hack into multiple victims' accounts, then used the victims' accounts to promote meme coin scams, successfully defrauding nearly $500,000 in the past month.
Impersonated X officials sent notifications, users were deceived and passwords stolen
ZachXBT stated that from November 26 to December 24, for nearly a month, the hacker impersonated X officials and sent out 'copyright infringement notices' to lure victims into phishing websites, further obtaining victims' X account passwords, two-factor authentication (2FA), and other information, ultimately taking control of the accounts.
Investigations show that currently 15 victims' accounts are related to cryptocurrency, including the well-known live streaming platform Kick, the SocialFi platform The Arena, and other popular accounts with over 200,000 followers. The hacker used these accounts to post phishing messages promoting false meme coins, further attracting interested users, and defrauding victims of nearly $500,000 in just one month.
Hackers use various methods, with funds being laundered across chains
ZachXBT pointed out that the hacker primarily used 6 addresses to conduct scams, transferring stolen funds between Solana and Ethereum chains, attempting to cover up the source of illicit funds and increase the difficulty of tracing.
Many popular accounts that were impersonated have publicly admitted to being used for scams, such as the cross-chain protocol Neutron.
Cryptocurrency scams are rampant, with $2.2 billion stolen this year
According to foreign media reports, losses from cryptocurrency-related phishing scams exceeded $20.2 million in October this year, while losses in November slowed down, decreasing by 53% compared to October, down to $9.3 million. However, with the year-end holidays approaching, scam activities seem to have increased again.
According to previous reports from Chain News, there have been 303 major hacking incidents in 2024 to date, with losses reaching $2.2 billion, an increase of 21% compared to last year, of which North Korean hackers alone stole over $1.3 billion, double the amount stolen in 2023, accounting for 61% of the total global hacker theft in 2024. Users still need to strengthen crisis awareness and think twice before clicking on unknown links.
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The article 'Raked in $500,000 through meme coin scams! Blockchain detective: hackers invaded 15 popular crypto accounts' was first published on 'Crypto City'