Animoca Brands Co-Founder Yat Siu’s X Account Compromised in Fraud Scheme
The X account of Animoca Brands co-founder Yat Siu was compromised to promote fraudulent tokens on Solana's Pump.fun platform. The hacker falsely announced a token launch, claiming affiliation with Animoca.
Blockchain investigator ZachXBT indicated that Siu may have been targeted by a phishing scam aimed at crypto accounts. Over the past month, more than 15 X accounts were compromised, resulting in $500,000 stolen.
Hackers utilized phishing emails impersonating the X team, creating urgency with false copyright infringement claims to deceive users into visiting malicious sites and resetting their account credentials.
3/3 An example of a phishing email received by X users can be seen below and the emails all follow the same script:
>send fake copyright infringement email
>create a sense of urgency
>trick user into visiting phishing site and resetting 2FA/passwordMakes sure to limit email… pic.twitter.com/j1SWMTlWW3
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) December 24, 2024
Similar incidents occurred on November 26, affecting RuneMine's X account, and another attack on December 24 targeting the crypto trading video streaming site Kick, prior to this breach involving Siu.
The fraudulent MOCA token peaked at a market cap of $36,700 but quickly declined to $7,700 and is now valued at $5,991, with only 33 holders according to Birdeye.
Animoca Brands Responds Swiftly to Account Breach
Animoca Brands confirmed the compromise of Yat Siu's X account and stated that no official tokens or NFTs have been launched by the company. They advised users to avoid interacting with the account and warned about the fraudulent token.
‼️🚨 Unfortunately @ysiu social media account has been compromised. There is no official token or NFT launch from Animoca Brands. The token launch on Solana as claimed in a post was made by the hacker. Please DO NOT engage with the account and stay vigilant.
We will provide an…
— Animoca Brands (@animocabrands) December 26, 2024
Animoca's prompt response was recognized positively, with NF3 Chip commending the company's actions and highlighting the need for vigilance in the crypto sector.
Growing Cybercrime Threat in the Crypto Space
As cryptocurrency expands, so does the sophistication of cybercrime targeting users and organizations. Phishing scams often exploit X accounts to target creators and celebrities. On December 8, the Cardano Foundation’s X account was hacked to promote a fake token "ADAsol", generating $500,000 in trading volume before its value plummeted by 99%. Similarly, Symbiotic's X account was hacked in October, leading users to phishing links disguised as airdrop checklists.
High-profile individuals are also at risk. On October 29, the X account of Truth Terminal AI founder Andy Ayrey was hacked to promote fake tokens, netting the hacker $1.5 million.