Hackers take over Elon Musk’s and Bill Gates’ Twitter pages, post scam bitcoin links
Hackers have gotten access to the Twitter accounts of billionaires Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and Jeff Bezos, as well as Cash App on Wednesday and posted malicious Bitcoin links.
Someone posted on Musk’s Twitter account: “I‘m feeling generous because of Covid-19. I’ll double any BTC payment sent to my BTC address for the next hour. Good luck, and stay safe out there!”
The message urges followers to send $1,000 in Bitcoin, promising to double the amount.
A spokesperson for Gates told McClatchy News: “We can confirm that this tweet was not sent by Bill Gates. This appears to be part of a larger issue that Twitter is facing. Twitter is aware and working to restore the account.”
Similar messages were posted on Square’s Cash App account, as well as Gates’ and Bezos’ Twitter accounts.
According to Cybersecurity news outlet The Hacker News, the account has already received $55,000 in Bitcoin.
“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 said.
Other affected Twitter accounts, per multiple media outlets, include:
- Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden
- Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg
- Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
- Former President Barack Obama
Rapper Kanye West
CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Warren Buffett
YouTube star Mr. Beast
Entrepreneurs Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss also had their accounts hacked, according to The Verge.
Cameron Winklevoss tweeted that all major cryptocurrency accounts have been hacked and the account was protected by two-factor authentication and used a “strong password.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York tweeted: “Hey everyone — there seems to be a large Twitter attack right now targeting large accounts. Please be vigilant about any bitcoins scams and do NOT click on any suspicious links. Just in case, if my account tweets any bizarre links related to cryptocurrency, do NOT click on it.”
This story was originally published July 15, 2020 at 2:52 PM.