On Feb. 5, scammers hacked the X accounts of Jupiter DEX, a Solana-based crypto exchange aggregator, and former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. The hackers used these accounts to promote scam cryptocurrencies named MEOW.
Jupiter Mobile’s X account quickly issued a warning after DEX hack, urging users not to click on any links or buy tokens promoted on the hacked account. The post confirmed that the team was working to regain control.
MEOW Coin Spikes to $30 Million Before Collapsing
Despite this, the scam coin MEOW reportedly reached a market cap of $30 million within seconds before crashing.
Data from GeckoTerminal shows the coin spiked to $8 million in value before losing 98% of its worth, dropping to just $88,000.
Jupiter’s co-founder, Siong Ong, confirmed the hack. However, he reassured users that the platform’s smart contracts were still secure due to a 4/7 multisignature security feature. This system requires multiple team members to approve any transactions, preventing hackers from accessing funds.
Despite this, crypto venture capital firm GM Capital’s pseudonymous founder, Beanie, estimated that traders lost millions of dollars within minutes due to the attack.
Former Malaysian Prime Minister’s X Account Used for Another Crypto Scam
Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia’s longest-serving prime minister, also had his X account hijacked on the same day. Scammers promoted a fraudulent cryptocurrency called MALAYSIA, using his influence to attract investors.
According to GeckoTerminal, the MALAYSIA token’s market cap soared to $3.4 million shortly after the hack. However, the token then crashed to $153,000 as investors realized it was a scam.
Cybersecurity firm SlowMist’s founder, Yu Xian, confirmed that Mahathir’s account was compromised and used to lure victims into investing in the fraudulent token.
The Jupiter and Mahathir Mohamad hacks are the latest in a growing wave of high-profile social media breaches being used to pump and dump scam tokens.
Just last month, Breaking Bad star Dean Norris had his X account hacked for the second time. Scammers used his likeness to promote a fraudulent crypto scheme, deceiving his followers into investing in another pump-and-dump coin.
Additionally, fake accounts posing as the US Treasury recently promoted counterfeit cryptocurrencies falsely linked to Bank of America, JPMorgan, and BlackRock on the XRPL network.
