Hackers Target X Accounts of Crypto Firms to Promote Scam Tokens

Several account hijackings on X over the weekend have raised alarm in the crypto community.

The incidents involved the official accounts of Litecoin, Foresight Ventures, and Holoworld AI being compromised to promote fraudulent cryptocurrencies and phishing links, exposing users to potential scams.

The Incidents

On January 11, Litecoin confirmed that bad actors had accessed its official X account, saying:

“Litecoin’s X account was briefly compromised today and posts that were not authorized were published.”

The attackers shared content promoting fake Litecoin tokens linked to the Solana blockchain. One reportedly read, “LTC is now in Solana.” It also included a contract address and a link to a scam token on Pump.fun.

According to the update, the posts were deleted within seconds. The team also said it had identified a compromised delegated account as the source of the breach, which has since been removed. It also apologized for any confusion caused, notifying users that investigations into the incident are ongoing.

Foresight Ventures also suffered an attack on Saturday. In that incident, hackers used the company’s account to promote a token called MingAI, which was described as an AI-powered crypto assistant. To build credibility, the bad actors also shared links to the token’s contract, a trading tracker, and a Telegram group.

Min Xue, a partner at the company, acknowledged the incident, telling followers on X:

“We regret to inform you that Foresight Ventures’ account has been compromised by hackers in the past 12 hours.”

She advised users not to engage with any posts or click on links shared during the breach and reassured them that the issue was being addressed.

Holoworld AI was another target. On January 10, suspected scammers posted misleading information about an airdrop for AVA tokens on its profile.

“AVA Distribution Event 1, The Q1 Distribution is based on your current holdings and on-chain activity,” the fake post read. It also directed users to a portal to check allocations and claim tokens.

In an update, the firm announced its X profile had been fully restored after quick action and assistance from BrainchainLLC. The team also reported that the phishing links and tweets were repeatedly flagged and taken down, with the attackers using sophisticated tactics to retain control.

Holoworld also revealed that it had implemented enhanced security measures across platforms following a security audit to prevent future incidents.

A Broader Issue

The recent string of hacks is part of a broader rise in phishing attacks targeting crypto users on the social media platform.

Research from Scam Sniffer, a blockchain security firm, indicates that phishing attacks reached unprecedented levels in 2024, causing approximately $494 million in losses and compromising more than 330,000 crypto wallet addresses.

The firm attributed most of these incidents to impersonation accounts, which lured unsuspecting users to malicious websites through deceptive comments and private messages.

Additionally, on-chain investigator ZachXBT previously reported that between November and December last year, a single hacker breached over 15 X accounts, stealing more than $500,000.

However, to fight back against the growing menace, Binance recently announced that it had prevented more than $129 million from being lost to scams in 2024 using artificial intelligence and machine learning. The crypto exchange said it identified and blacklisted 47,000 malicious addresses, issued 15,000 daily alerts, and made over 30,000 phone calls warning users of potential harm.