An official Google account on the social media platform, Twitter, was compromised to promote a Bitcoin-related scam.
One More Breach on Twitter
The official Twitter account of G Suite, a cloud service from Google, was hacked earlier on Tuesday to promote a Bitcoin giveaway scam, reports The Next Web.
The post, which appeared on the account’s feed, claimed that Google was giving away 10,000 BTC to their followers. It further said that, henceforth, G Suite would receive payments in cryptocurrency.
The malicious post asked community members to send 0.1 to 2 BTC to the Bitcoin address provided, promising to give them 1 to 20 BTC in return.
The tweet, reportedly, remained on G Suite’s feed for over 11 minutes. The user who had managed to take a screenshot of the post said that the tweet disappeared a few minutes later.
Google has not come out with any official response despite requests for comment.
Increasing Incidents of Hacking
Google is not the first firm to fall victim to such breaches to exploit its large community of followers.
Target, the U.S. retail giant, had their Twitter account compromised yesterday for a similar scam. The firm has confirmed that a malicious Bitcoin giveaway post remained on its feed for over 30 minutes.
It should be noted that the G Suite tweet appeared a few minutes after The Next Web was told by Twitter that it is taking steps to prevent such cryptocurrency-related breaches on the platform.
Twitter is one of the most popular social media platforms and is often used by blockchain and cryptocurrency firms to communicate with their users, customers, and the community.
Twitter has been repeatedly used for such incidents of fraudulent activities. Many accounts of retail companies, politicians, business magnates, and government agencies have been targeted by fraudsters.
Users Should Exercise Caution
Incidents of hacking and scams are on the rise as the adoption of cryptocurrency is increasing. Swindlers keep looking for new ways of duping innocent investors of their crypto-assets.
Many such incidents of fraud become difficult to investigate due to the absence of an intermediary and the anonymous nature of transactions.
The lack of regulations across many countries and the underlying privacy of crypto transfers also make it difficult for law enforcement agencies to track down cryptocurrency crooks. Investors need to be extremely cautious and take all measures to protect their digital assets.
What steps should the social media firms take to prevent such scams on their platforms? Let us know in the comments below.
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