The co-founder and major figure behind Animoca Brands, Yat Siu, has had his X account compromised. under attack , with the attacker using it as a tool to market a counterfeit Solana-themed memecoin known as MOCA, falsely linked to Animoca Brands and the Mocaverse NFT series.
It seems this might be just one incident within a larger phishing operation affecting various crypto-focused X accounts.
Animoca Brands verified the breach and advised followers to stay clear of any sketchy interactions or tokens linked to the hacked profile. The team committed to updating once the issue is resolved.
Hacks For Cash
Currently, Yat Siu hasn't reclaimed full access to his profile. A few of the posts pushing the fake token were erased, yet the hijacked account still circulated several tweets about the MOCA token.
Insight: Yat Siu, co-founder of Animoca, might have fallen for a phishing email akin to one that resulted in scams deployed by the same address targeting the CEO of Kick & Vanar.
Deployer address
BL1hs3jw58d1S9xw7cKRUx9wXY94se9Ydt7bCgN1W3pL pic.twitter.com/bTA1QUjJ7b— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) December 26, 2024
As per Mocaverse's analysis, even with basic safeguards like 2FA, Yat Siu’s account was seized.
“There are signs this might be a case of identity theft. Despite the presence of standard security protocols (such as 2FA), we are considering and implementing more robust security methods,” the team explained.
In response, report indicates that critical personnel and official accounts have revised their login details. No other security gaps or unauthorized acts were identified in other accounts.
The sham token saw a temporary spike to a $36,700 valuation before its drastic fall. Its present worth holds at near $5,991, as indicated by Birdeye.
Reflecting on Animoca Brands’ announcement, well-regarded on-chain analyst ZachXBT speculated that potentially lacking a security key could have left Yat Siu’s account exposed.
ZachXBT previously cautioned about a phishing email targeting X accounts tied to the digital currency domain. The savvy blockchain investigator noted that over 15 X accounts had been breached recently, leading to about $500,000 in thefts via varied meme coin schemes.
Miscreants employed a constant phishing maneuver to lure individuals into surrendering their access details. They sent false copyright infringement emails to spark urgency.
Many victims found themselves drawn to fake sites where they were misguided into updating their passwords and two-factor settings, eventually giving the infiltrator control over their accounts.
Prominent among the compromised accounts were those linked to Kick, Cursor, Alex Blania, The Arena, and Brett. With substantial followings, these crypto-centered profiles became prime objectives for the hacker.
Once breaching an account, misuse followed as it served to advertise fake tokens, predominantly targeting Solana investors. The fraud often involved declarations of new coins accompanied by contract addresses.
Moving Tokens
ZachXBT also pointed out the hacker's trick of using cross-network transfers between Solana and Ethereum to obscure the stolen assets’ origins. This method aimed to challenge both governing bodies and blockchain analysts’ efforts to trace the transactions.
Recently, there's been a notable escalation in assaults on Twitter accounts associated with cryptocurrency. High-profile individuals and organizations within the crypto world have increasingly become targets of these hacks.
On December 14, an attack ensued on Drake’s X account, exploiting it to broadcast a fraudulent meme currency dubbed ANITA. The swindle falsely declared a partnership with Stake, a gambling enterprise Drake has backed since 2022.
Following this deceitful marketing, the token's trading hit as high as $5 million before the con was identified and all misleading posts were taken down.
On December 8, the X account of the Cardano Foundation also underwent a cyber infringement. During this breach, an impostor token named ADAsol was promoted along with bogus news of an alleged SEC lawsuit against Cardano.
The Foundation swiftly regained control of the account, providing assurance that normalcy would resume while investigations into the breach proceeded.
