Google’s official G Suite Twitter handle has added itself to the series of Bitcoin scams that are flooding the social media sites for a couple of months now. Earlier, hackers created a flurry of fake accounts impersonating the CEO of SpaceX, Elon Musk, asking people to give Bitcoins in order to participate in the “biggest crypto-giveaway”.
First time I’ve seen this scam – it’s a promoted tweet, but If you click the user ID in the tweet, it actually takes you to the legit G Suite Twitter account. Very clever. @Google @gsuite pic.twitter.com/Us7ygYZMi6
— Andrew Maxey (@andrewmaxey) November 13, 2018
How are the scammers operating?
The hijackers first hack an organizational verified Twitter account, then they change the picture and name of the handle to that of Elon Musk’. Later, the account would get spread via Twitter’s promote feature.
Umm… Did Pantheon Books account get hacked by a Musk-impersonating bitcoin scammer? pic.twitter.com/UNtbrO4Qhs
— Jeff Roberts (@jeffjohnroberts) November 5, 2018
The hackers even accessed the retail store giant, Target’s twitter account and issued a request to send bitcoins in order to participate in “the biggest crypto-giveaway in the world”.
Early this morning, our Twitter account was inappropriately accessed. The access lasted for approx. half an hour & one fake tweet was posted during that time about a bitcoin scam. We have regained control of the account, are in close contact with Twitter & are investigating now.
— Target (@Target) November 13, 2018
Computer security expert, Graham Cluley, shared the circulated scammer’s tweet!
And now @Target.
This isn’t just Target’s problem. This is @Twitter‘s problem. They clearly haven’t got a handle on these cryptocurrency scams.
As previously discussed here: https://t.co/0l44PVFPI9 pic.twitter.com/81i6GIv3qs
— Graham Cluley (@gcluley) November 13, 2018
In a statement given to Fortune, a Twitter spokesperson said, “We’ve substantially improved how we tackle cryptocurrency scams on the platform, and in recent weeks, impressions have fallen by a multiple of 10 as we continue to invest in more proactive tools to detect spammy and malicious activity. This is a significant improvement on previous action rates.”
Twitter gives more freedom to report spam, fake accounts
It is yet to be seen when and what concrete steps would Twitter take to put a stop to these ongoing Bitcoin scams.
