Crypto Twitter, a vibrant community of cryptocurrency enthusiasts, was recently put on high alert when Uniswap founder Hayden Adams’ Twitter account was compromised by hackers.
The scammers used the account to promote a fraudulent scheme, falsely claiming that Uniswap’s Permit2 contract had been exploited, putting users’ tokens at risk.
On July 20, the “Web3 Security Alerts” channel on Telegram alerted its followers that the Twitter account of Hayden Adams, the founder and CEO of Uniswap, had been compromised.
The hackers posted a tweet to Adams’ over 254,000 followers, spreading false information about the Uniswap platform’s security.
The tweet urged users to click on a malicious link, purportedly to safeguard their tokens from the alleged exploit.
Though the first scam tweet was quickly removed, several nearly identical tweets were also posted, leading to confusion and potential risks for users who came across them.
As of the time of publication, some of these tweets remained visible to Twitter users. Furthermore, Web3 Security Alerts reported that Adams had been blocked from accessing his accounts with MetaMask and Coinbase Wallet, further indicating the extent of the hack.
The use of social media platforms to deceive users into parting with their cryptocurrencies or fiat is not a new phenomenon. In response, platforms like Twitter have taken measures to mitigate the impact of scams.
For instance, Twitter executive chair Elon Musk announced a temporary limit on the number of daily posts users can read to detect and eliminate bots and bad actors.
While established platforms like Twitter are combating scams, new social media platforms are emerging. Meta, formerly known as Facebook, launched “Threads,” a microblogging app aiming to rival Twitter.
Despite its rapid rise to over 100 million users in just a few days, scammers have already seized the opportunity to promote fake nonfungible token projects and impersonate well-known Crypto Twitter personalities.
