The X account of former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed was hacked by bad actors who used the account to promote the token address of a fake crypto project.
The development was announced by the founder of Slowmist, a Blockchain security firm revealing details of the attack and efforts made to reveal the scammers behind it.
Tracking of the hackers by the Slowmist Team revealed that they are connected to a notorious cybercrime group.
Further details by the slowmist team are yet to be revealed and it is still unclear whether the hacked account has been recovered.
Over the past years, hacks on high-profile accounts have been on the rise, with the compromised accounts used to promote either a memecoin or a fake crypto project aimed at dragging in victims.
Phishing and Business Email Compromise remain the most common means used by bad actors to compromise the social media accounts of high-profile individuals.
Historical Context
Over the past few years, numerous celebrity accounts on X (formerly Twitter) have been compromised by crypto scammers. These compromised accounts are used to promote cryptocurrency projects or memecoins.
In July 2020, A significant breach affected the accounts of prominent figures, including Elon Musk, Barack Obama, and Bill Gates. The hackers posted identical messages promoting a Bitcoin scam, resulting in over $100,000 in losses within hours.
In September 2024: The X accounts of Lara and Tiffany Trump were hacked to promote a cryptocurrency scam, highlighting the ongoing vulnerability of high-profile accounts.
Finally in January 2025, Popular Twitch streamer Zack “Asmongold” had his X account compromised by cryptocurrency scammers, underscoring that both celebrities and influencers are frequent targets.
These incidents demonstrate a persistent threat, with attackers continually seeking to exploit the reach and influence of celebrity accounts to perpetrate crypto-related scams.
