Over the weekend, hackers focused the social media accounts of Visa and Hollywood actor Dean Norris to advertise fraudulent crypto tokens.
The incidents have raised issues in regards to the rising use of compromised high-profile accounts to run crypto scams.
Visa's Fb compromise
On January 26, hackers accessed Visa's official Fb web page and used it to advertise suspicious crypto primarily based on Solana.
The attackers claimed that the token was a part of Visa's promise to launch a cryptographic token. They wrote:
“Keep in mind that in 2014 we mentioned that in 11 years we might have a coin known as “VISA”. Properly, it's 2025, and right here we’re!
Nevertheless, members of the crypto neighborhood greeted the announcement with skepticism and warned business gamers towards the announcement.
In the meantime, critics ridiculed the scammer's alternative of Fb for the rip-off, suggesting it was unlikely to draw seasoned crypto traders.
But the token's market cap reportedly soared to $6 million earlier than the attackers orchestrated a sweepstakes operation, a tactic through which malicious actors abruptly promote the tokens, inflicting the worth to plummet and leaving traders in a bind. loss scenario.
Visa has not but launched an official touch upon the incident.
Visa is a number one conventional monetary establishment that has made vital progress within the crypto scene. It has partnerships with firms like Coinbase, Transak, Circle and Solana to construct connections between conventional finance and crypto.
Hacking Dean Norris
On January 25, American actor Dean Norris' X account was compromised to advertise a memecoin named $DEAN.
The hackers had shared a digitally altered picture of the actor holding an indication with the identify of the token to lend credibility to the rip-off.
Nevertheless, Norris debunked the token in a January 26 video stating that his platform had been hacked.
The Breaking Dangerous actor urged his followers to disregard the token and clarified that he had no involvement. He expressed disappointment over the backlash on Reddit and reiterated that he hardly ever makes use of social media platforms.
He declared:
“Really, it's about Dean Norris, and all this loopy crypto crap was a whole faux rip-off. I used to be hacked.