The British Army’s official Youtube and Twitter accounts were compromised Sunday and hackers used them to promote crypto, including bitcoin and ether giveaway scams featuring Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
British Army’s Social Media Accounts Used to Promote Bitcoin, Crypto, NFT Scams
The British Army confirmed Sunday that its official Youtube and Twitter accounts were breached.
The army’s verified Twitter handle with nearly 363K followers retweeted a number of posts promoting non-fungible token (NFT) scams before they were removed by Twitter. During the breach, the account name, profile picture, and banner image were changed to resemble NFT collections.
Meanwhile, the army’s Youtube account, which has 177K subscribers, was renamed “Ark Invest” and four live videos promoting bitcoin and ether giveaway scams were uploaded to the account. The scammers advertised that for every bitcoin or ether sent to them, you will receive twice the amount back. The videos featured Tesla CEO Elon Musk, former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, and Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood.
Four videos uploaded to the British Army’s Youtube account. Source: Youtube
Scammers often use public figures and celebrities to promote their cryptocurrency scams, particularly bitcoin and ether giveaways.
Besides Musk, Dorsey, and Wood, other well-known people who have been featured in crypto giveaway scams include Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett, and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.
In June, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) revealed that more than 46,000 people reported losing over $1 billion in cryptocurrency to scams since the beginning of last year.
The spokesperson for the British Army was quoted by Reuters as saying: “We take information security extremely seriously and are resolving the issue. Until the investigation is complete it would be inappropriate to comment further.”
Tags in this story
accounts breach, bitcoin giveaways, British army, british army accounts, british army accounts hacked, british army crypto, british army cryptocurrency, british army social media, elon musk crypto giveaways, Twitter, twitter accounts hacked, twitter hack, youtube accounts hacked, youtube hack
What do you think about hackers taking over the British Army’s social media accounts to promote crypto scams? Let us know in the comments section below.
Kevin Helms
Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.
