Politician Accounts Hacked By Fake Elon Musk Bitcoin Scam

Hackers gained control of several verified Twitter accounts this month and used them to impersonate Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk and scam bitcoin users.

What Happened

The hackers changed the profile names and photos on the Twitter accounts to match Musk's. They used the accounts to impersonate Musk and promote a bitcoin scam claiming that Musk is giving away 10,000 bitcoins to participants.

Film production company Pathe, U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. and consulting company Capgemini were among the accounts that were hacked. One of the bitcoin wallets reportedly used in the scam has received nearly $170,000 in payments associated with the scam.

As of Monday, the hackers still appear to be gaining access to new Twitter accounts, according to The Next Web.

Why It’s Important

Yet another cryptocurrency scam associated with such a popular entrepreneur as Musk is not helping bitcoin and cryptocurrency investors help gain the confidence of the average investor. The cryptocurrency market has been rampant with criminal activity and fraud, and Carbon Black Security reports that more than $1.1 billion of cryptocurrency was stolen in the first half of 2018.

Investor safety and market liquidity are two of the primary concerns of the Securities and Exchange commission, which has repeatedly rejected applications for cryptocurrency ETF listings on major U.S. exchanges.

What’s Next

Investors will be watching to see if the SEC ultimately changes its stance on cryptocurrency or if enthusiasm for cryptos starts to wane thanks to persistent security concerns.

The Bitcoin ETF Trust GBTC is now down 68.2 percent year-to-date.

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$63.43-3.26%