Highly Coordinated Attack Impacts Twitter Accounts of World’s Most Famous People
WEST PALM BEACH, FL – On July 15, 2020, several verified Twitter accounts of famous people and companies were taken over in a security breach, including Apple, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Barack Obama and others. Hackers then published tweets from these accounts soliciting donations via Bitcoin.
For example, one tweet read:
“We are giving back to our community. We support Bitcoin and we believe you should too. All Bitcoin sent to our address below will be sent back to you doubled.”
Within the first three hours of the attack, people were deceived into sending more than $118,000 to the scammers. Bitcoin is a popular cryptocurrency used by scammers because it is virtually impossible to recover the lost funds.
Twitter has stated that verified accounts will be unable to tweet until the issue is resolved and have also disabled some account features such as password reset requests.
John Colascione is Chief Executive Officer of SEARCHEN NETWORKS®, a digital marketing and technology company founded in 2001. An entrepreneur, author, and digital publisher with more than 25 years of experience, he specializes in search engine marketing, Website Monetization, domain names, and online business development. He is the author of Mastering Your Website and publishes commentary on technology, digital marketing, and the evolving Internet economy. Read more at JohnColascione.com.
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