Suspected bitcoin scammers take over Twitter accounts of Bill Gates, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos
Source: NBC
Suspected bitcoin scammers appeared to launch a wide-ranging attack on major Twitter accounts on Wednesday in an attempt to get people to transfer cryptocurrency, taking over accounts belonging to some of the worlds wealthiest corporations and people, including Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.
A tweet typical of the attack sent from the account of Bill Gates, the software mogul and the worlds second-wealthiest person, promised to double all payments sent to his bitcoin address for the next 30 minutes.
Everyone is asking me to give back, and now is the time, the tweet said. You send $1,000, I send you back $2,000.
Similar tweets appeared on the accounts of tech executive Elon Musk, rapper Kanye West and corporations including Apple, Uber and the money transfer app Cash.
The bitcoin address linked in the tweets was quickly inundated with more than 200 instances of people sending it money, totaling more than $100,000.
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/suspected-bitcoin-scammers-take-over-twitter-accounts-bill-gates-elon-n1233948?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma
Link to tweet
Link to tweet
demmiblue
(36,898 posts)fleur-de-lisa
(14,628 posts)demmiblue
(36,898 posts)fleur-de-lisa
(14,628 posts)regnaD kciN
(26,045 posts)Isn't it strange that this is targeting almost entirely those the QAnon crowd identifies as being in the "Deep State"...?
George II
(67,782 posts)About 2 months ago I got an email on an account I rarely use with the subject line using my password from another email account. They said that they have compromising videos from my "webcam" and if I didn't send them $2000 they're send them out to my boss, coworkers, etc.
The funny thing is I don't have a webcam and I've been retired for seven years!
Then a week later I got another one from someone else with exactly the same wording, but asking for $4000.
I hope people don't fall for the scam.
I got a similar email 2 mos ago. Like you, I dont have a webcam and am retired. The password included in the email threat was an old one. The sender wanted payment in bitcoin.
(I used to work for the FTC and checked with them. Apparently, this is a common scam thats been around over a year. The password could have been obtained in one of the many data hacks - Experian, Yahoo, VA, etc.)
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,045 posts)Do not respond. They will give up after a year.
chriscan64
(1,789 posts)Same situation, work computers, no camera and nothing for a camera to catch. I did not want to respond, but after 20 emails, I asked for a copy of the "video". Nothing since.
George II
(67,782 posts)....webcam.
I'm sure if they send out hundreds of emails that they get a few responses of people with guilty consciences.
I also got caught up in that Ashley Madison hack several years ago, even though I never joined Ashley Madison (that was the one that caused a couple of suicides!)
htuttle
(23,738 posts)Sapient Donkey
(1,568 posts)Mostly because I don't understand why twitter would have accounts and tools on their production code to post as any random account. I can see that perhaps being a thing for development, though. That just seems stupid to put that out in the real world. I also don't trust anything on the internet.
My first thought was they exploited some old or little known alternative access/posting method that either bypasses authentication for full account access or perhaps that just lets someone post something as any account because it doesn't actually do proper checks on what's being submitted. I'm basing this on nothing other than my own experiences building applications and breaking my own and other peoples stuff. Perhaps I am wrong and twitter is dumb enough to have such admin accounts with super tools that is accessible from the outside world and that interacts with actual real life data.
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,045 posts)Sapient Donkey
(1,568 posts)Although, the tweet with the screenshots of the claimed admin panel were deleted by Twitter for rules violation. That makes me suspect my assessment could be off and they actually do have an admin tool that can create tweets on a live version of the site. That just seems really dumb for a major site which many heads of state and government agencies from around the world use to communicate. To have access to that linked to a twitter account that could be be compromised and sold is stupid. Assuming that is what happened.
Yavin4
(35,446 posts)season.
yaesu
(8,020 posts)Orrex
(63,225 posts)demmiblue
(36,898 posts)BumRushDaShow
(129,543 posts)AND put hotels on both!!
sheepfarm
(38 posts)...on the basis that no one will believe that the human bag of shit is willing to double anyone's cryptocurrency.
Sapient Donkey
(1,568 posts)I wonder if Twitter will step up to pay back those people who fell for the scam.
demmiblue
(36,898 posts)ansible
(1,718 posts)Jeez, people are this dumb?
https://www.blockchain.com/btc/address/bc1qxy2kgdygjrsqtzq2n0yrf2493p83kkfjhx0wlh
Total Received
12.86130607 BTC
Sapient Donkey
(1,568 posts)It's tempting to have the attitude that if someone is stupid enough to fall for it then they deserve it. But really, the victims are often older folks who are easily confused & tricked, people with have some sort of cognitive disability, or who are in such desperate situations that they will try anything. My grandfather was a brilliant man who did so many amazing things in his life. He was an engineer at NASA, held a massive number of patents, built and a ran many successful businesses over the years, but in his later years he was easily confused and became a good target for scammers. I also now see my own parents becoming more susceptible to this stuff. I'm constantly steering them away from what to me seem like obvious scams.
orangecrush
(19,624 posts)Only used Democrats accounts.
Bullshit.
Polybius
(15,492 posts)I've always thought he was a Libertarian or Republican.
orangecrush
(19,624 posts)My mistake.