India's PM Modi Latest Victim Of Twitter Cryptocurrency Hack

Twitter Inc TWTR disclosed Thursday that the account of Indian Prime Minister Nardendra Modi’s personal website on the social media platform was hacked, and tweets pertaining to cryptocurrency donations were sent out, Reuters reported Thursday.

What Happened: The prime minister’s account has over 2.5 million followers and is related to his website — www.narendramodi.in and mobile application. 

.@Twitter account of Prime Minister @narendramodi's personal website hacked pic.twitter.com/j0z5KXjkVH

— BTVI Live (@BTVI) September 3, 2020

“We are actively investigating the situation. At this time, we are not aware of additional accounts being impacted,” Twitter said in an emailed statement to Reuters.

Tweets were sent from the account asking followers to donate to a relief fund using cryptocurrency.

Why It Matters: The hacking of the prime minister’s account is similar to the one that took place in mid-July, where Bitcoin scammers asked for donations after taking over accounts of high-profile persons such as former President of the United States Barack Obama, Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk, and Microsoft Corporation MSFT co-founder Bill Gates.

The July-attack caused the private messages of at least 36 people to be compromised, while over 100 of Twitter’s preeminent users were affected.

Reports at the time suggested that an insider was allegedly responsible for the hacking. Twitter later stated that "spear phishing" attacks on employees led to the hack.

Price Action:Twitter shares closed nearly 6.1% higher at $43.67 on Wednesday and fell almost 0.4% in the after-hours session.

Photo courtesy: Kremlin.ru