dChan - Q Origins Project Archive

Apple, Biden, Gates, Musk and other high-profile Twitter accounts hacked in crypto scam

A number of high-profile Twitter accounts were simultaneously hacked on Wednesday by attackers who used the accounts — some with millions of followers — to spread a cryptocurrency scam. @bitcoin, @ripple, @coindesk, @coinbase and @binance were among the accounts hacked with the same message: “We have partnered with CryptoForHealth and are giving back 5000 BTC to the community,” followed by a link to a website, which we are not linking to. The linked website was quickly pulled offline. Kristaps Ronka, chief executive of Namesilo, the domain registrar used by the scammers, told TechCrunch that the company suspended the domain “on the first report” it received.

As the incident developed, the hacked accounts shared multiple bitcoin wallet addresses, making things more difficult to track. Twitter acknowledged the situation at 2:45 p.m. PT Wednesday afternoon, referring to it as a “security incident.” Twitter users reported seeing error messages on the platform as the situation went on. TechCrunch’s own Natasha Mascarenhas saw this one when she tried to create a threaded tweet. Some verified Twitter users also reported being unable to tweet. Around 3:15 p.m. PT, the official Twitter Support account tweeted “[Users] may be unable to Tweet or reset your password while we review and address this incident.” Apple’s Twitter account also had its account hacked to push the same scam, along with @jeffbezos and @billgates, whose account was also briefly hacked with the same message, though the tweet was quickly deleted.

Many other high profile accounts were quickly hijacked, including @elonmusk. The tweet posted to the Tesla and SpaceX founder’s account simply directed users to send bitcoin to a certain address under the guise that he will “double any payment” — a known cryptocurrency scam technique. Musk’s account appeared to remain compromised for some time after the initial message, with follow-up posts claiming followers were sending money to the suspicious address. A number of extremely prominent Democratic political figures were also hacked as part of the cryptocurrency scam, including Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Wiz Khalifa’s account was also compromised, as was the Twitter account of popular YouTuber MrBeast, who often posts giveaways, making his re-post of the bitcoin address particularly likely to drive followers to the scam. The hack also hit legendary investor Warren Buffet, a prominent and harsh critic of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. “I don’t have any cryptocurrency and I never will,” Buffet told CNBC in February.

While the scope of Wednesday’s Twitter hack is unprecedented on the social network, the kinds of scams being promoted are common. Scammers take over high-profile Twitter accounts using breached or leaked passwords and post messages that encourage users to post their cryptocurrency funds to a particular address under the guise that they’ll double their “investment.” In reality, it’s simple theft, but it’s a scam that works. The blockchain address used on the scam site had already collected more than 12.5 bitcoin — some $116,000 in today’s currency — and it’s going up by the minute. A spokesperson for Binance told TechCrunch: “The security team is actively investigating the situation of this coordinated attack on the crypto industry.” Several other companies affected by the account hacks did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It’s not immediately known how the account hacks took place. Security researchers, however, found that the attackers had fully taken over the victims’ accounts, and also changed the email address associated with the account to make it harder for the real user to regain access. Scammers frequently reply to high-profile accounts, like celebrities and public figures, to hijack the conversation and hoodwink unsuspecting victims. Twitter typically shuts these accounts down pretty fast. A Twitter spokesperson, when reached, said the company was “looking into” the matter but didn’t immediately comment.

https://techcrunch.com/2020/07/15/twitter-accounts-hacked-crypto-scam/

‘Lincoln Project’ Co-Founder John Weaver Signed Six-Figure Deal with Russia, Pulled Out After Backlash

John Weaver, one co-founder of The Lincoln Project Super PAC, signed a deal in 2019 with a Russian state-owned company to advocate for its interests — but ultimately rejected the contract once he was accused of hypocrisy for his years of calling President Donald Trump a pawn of Vladimir Putin. Weaver, a career political consultant who started The Lincoln Project to defeat President Donald Trump’s reelection bid, signed an agreement on May 10, 2019 with Tenam Corporation, “a subsidiary of Rosatom, the Russian state-owned nuclear energy company,” Politico reported at the time. According to the contract, which Weaver was required to file with the Department of Justice because he was acting as a foreign agent, he was tasked with lobbying the Trump administration and Congress on “sanctions or other restrictions in the area of atomic (nuclear) trade, or cooperation involving in any way the Russian Federation.” The Russian government-owned company was to pay Weaver $350,000 “plus expenses” for six months of work. If Russia wanted to continue utilizing Weaver beyond that term, Tenam was required to pay him $40,000 a month, according to the agreement. The contract stipulated that if Trump signed a bill imposing sanctions on Russia, Weaver could be fired. Just three years earlier, Weaver wanted “sanctions from Hell” placed on Russia. That needed to be done to Putin “so that he and his KGB cronies can’t move their stolen money around the world,” Weaver wrote on Twitter in 2016.

In an interview with Politico, Tenam President Fletcher Newton would not say who recommended hiring Weaver to protect Russia’s interests. “I can tell you it’s about as good a recommendation as anybody could ask for,” Newton said. But less than a week after signing the agreement, Weaver ended it, acknowledging a barrage of criticism on social media and tried to explain that he was not contradicting his posture of hostility toward Trump and Putin. “I’m rejecting the contract,” he told CNBC reporter Brian Schwartz. “[M]y only focus is the replace[ment] of Donald Trump as ‘president’ and his low traveling minions,” Weaver said. “While I believe strongly in a stable uranium market, for the U.S. national security issues and economic issues — plus keeping proliferation at bay — I don’t want to be distracted or disputed.” Weaver, a former consultant for John McCain and John Kasich’s presidential campaigns, now wants Joe Biden elected to the White House.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/07/15/pro-biden-lincoln-project-co-founder-signed-six-figure-deal-advocate-russia/