In what is being regarded as the “worst hack of a major social media platform yet”, Twitter accounts of prominent personalities including Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Jeff Bezos, Waren Buffet, Bill Gates, Mike Bloomberg, Elon Musk, and Kanye West were recently hacked, reports India Today.
Following the hack, similar fake tweets were posted from the accounts promising the return of double the amount of money that is sent to a given Bitcoin address. For example, If a person were to send $1000 (75K INR approx) to a particular Bitcoin address, the fake tweets promised to give them back $2000 (1.5 lakh INR approx).
Have a look at some of the fake tweets here:
While the tweets were quickly deleted, there seemed to have been trouble taking back full control of the accounts. In Elon Musk’s case, when one fake tweet was deleted, another fake tweet appeared.
Twitter soon addressed the issue and said that they are looking into the matter:
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
On the other hand, BitTorrent CEO Justin Sun offered a prize money of 1 million USD (7.5 Cr INR approx) to anyone who can track down the hackers.
TRON Founder & CEO of @BitTorrent, Justin Sun is putting out a Bounty for the hackers in the amount of $1 million.
He will personally pay those who successfully track down, and provide evidence for bringing to justice, the hackers/people behind this hack affecting our community.— BitTorrent Inc. (@BitTorrent) July 15, 2020
People online, on the other hand, had their meme-game going! Many speculated how this wasn’t just a hack but was a “heist”. Have a look at what they said:
This ain't an incident, this is a heist.
— M3thods (@M2Madness) July 15, 2020
— ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ Fan acc (@Umemesh) July 15, 2020
— Louan ✊🏿✊🏾✊🏽 (@louanben) July 15, 2020
THEY GOT GOD pic.twitter.com/FwAzqPTZ8P
— code e (@ihatecodee) July 15, 2020
The hackers after gaining access to Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos’ accounts pic.twitter.com/bls4tf78PS
— Iseunife The First (@Shawnifee) July 15, 2020
Twitter HQ right now… pic.twitter.com/Lztf8mOIMA
— Edward Mayes (@eljmayes) July 15, 2020
I’ve fixed that for you. You’re welcome. pic.twitter.com/HkUTFsIu9d
— Nick Harvey (@mrnickharvey) July 15, 2020
— a6d (@a6doff) July 15, 2020
The hacker rn calculating how much he has gotten.pic.twitter.com/vv0LzAsQms
— A PROCESS (@Seun_Seunn) July 15, 2020
The Twitter Cyber Security Team has left the building. They ask that you respect their privacy at this difficult time. If anyone asks, they are definitely not on a flight to a non-extradition country. Thank you. https://t.co/raLHKtTFCp pic.twitter.com/5Zje44g8xW
— Hip Flask (@DeckardR_B26354) July 15, 2020
Twitter’s IT dept right now looking for the infiltrator. pic.twitter.com/doQVSLKBMQ
— rorymcevoy (@rorymcevoy) July 15, 2020
Karma Strikes Back On Twitter 🙊 pic.twitter.com/6lrEiVHEf5
— Dr Khushboo 👛 (@khushbookadri) July 16, 2020
Twitter staff right now watching hackers taking over accounts.😂 pic.twitter.com/12XsqatrEd
— Tina$he Ⓜ️angena ™️ (@TINA5H3) July 15, 2020
twitter security pic.twitter.com/RjmA0rzDjP
— Buttlord Zaku (@ZinZaku) July 15, 2020
Translation: pic.twitter.com/c1BRyJUmdA
— EV News Daily (at 🏠) (@EVNewsDaily) July 15, 2020
According to Alperovitch, the Chairman of the Silverado Policy Accelerator, claimed that the hackers have scammed about $110,000 (82.7 lakh INR approx) in bitcoins from about 300 people.
What do you think of this incident? Tell us!