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What started as one crypto Twitter account being compromised ultimately became a widespread hack that resulted in some of the most prominent accounts on the platform shilling a Bitcoin scam.
This exposed a major security flaw in the popular social media platform, as the hackers had free reign to access and post using any account that they desired.
One account victimized by the scam was that of Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President, Joe Biden.
Today, he followed up regarding the incident in a tweet, telling his nearly seven million followers that he does not own any Bitcoin and won’t ever ask anyone to send him any.
That didn’t stop him from using the event to request USD donations, however.
Twitter Scrambles to Resolve Security Flaws Following Widespread Hack
Yesterday, the world was closely watching as some of the biggest names in politics, music, tech, and more tweeted out links and Bitcoin wallet addresses attempting to garner donations from trusting followers.
The compromised accounts in total harvested just over $100,000 worth of the cryptocurrency – which is a measly sum considering the profits that could have been collected had the scam been structured differently.
It is important to note that some are speculating that this was a guise concealing the true purpose of the hack, which could have been collecting private direct messages and other data to try to blackmail certain individuals.
This theory remains pure speculation, however, and Twitter has not yet confirmed what data may have been taken.
“We know they used this access to take control of many highly-visible (including verified) accounts and Tweet on their behalf. We’re looking into what other malicious activity they may have conducted or information they may have accessed and will share more here as we have it.”
Joe Biden Claims He Doesn’t Have Any Bitcoin
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden was one prominent account compromised yesterday.
In a quickly deleted tweet, the former Vice President’s account posted a tweet stating that users who send $1,000 in Bitcoin will receive $2,000 back – a classic crypto giveaway scam.
Today, Biden clarified that he will never ask anyone to send him Bitcoin and does not hold any himself.
“I don’t have Bitcoin, and I’ll never ask you to send me any.”
He then used this as an opportunity to request USD donations from his base. It doesn’t appear that he will be accepting Bitcoin donations anytime soon, despite some other candidates doing so in the past.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
