Hackers gain access to MicroStrategy X account, steal $440K in phishing scam

Major business intelligence company and Bitcoin's largest corporate owner, MicroStrategy, has seen its X account attacked by hackers who promoted an airdrop of a fake Ethereum-based token.

The scam caused over $400K in losses, with MicroStrategy being the latest victim of the 2024 X hack.

Hackers stole $440,000 after the MicroStrategy hack

MicroStrategy hackers announced the launch of a fake Ethereum token called MSTR, which had low gas fees and was backed by the company's Bitcoin reserves.

After all, it was a good second

(hacked acc if not clear lol) pic.twitter.com/cdLqbqiiCO

— Speak Away (@spraakaway) February 26, 2024

After that, the criminals posted a phishing link that downloaded the new token to users. The MicroStrategy X account had a few posts promoting fake tokens and airdrops, reports said.

While the tweets no longer appear on MicroStrategy's official X account, according to chain sleuth ZachXBT, the hackers stole around $440,000 from people who fell for the fake phishing link and linked their wallets.

The incident has led members of the crypto community to speculate that the company has two-factor authentication (2FA) on its X account.

Meanwhile, other people said that MicroStrategy, which always promotes Bitcoin and which had one of the largest BTC stashes, should have realized that the tweets were fake, considering that it was strange to release an Ethereum-based token.

The business intelligence firm holds 190,000 BTC worth approximately $9.8 billion at Bitcoin's current price of more than $51,500. MicroStrategy, however, has yet to release an official statement about the hack.

X Hacks are still prevalent.

It's common for hackers outside of the crypto industry to use X accounts of celebrities or companies/organizations to trick unsuspecting users into believing their fake promotions and airdrops are real.

In September 2023, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin X's account was hacked to promote a phishing site that successfully extorted more than $800,000 from victims. Buterin later revealed that the hack was done through a SIM swap.

Hackers took over the X account of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in January 2024. The criminal actors tweeted that Bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) had been approved, causing a brief spike in the price of BTC.

SEC Chairman Gary Gensler immediately denied the news, saying the commission's account had been hacked. Later research revealed that the lack of 2FA and a SIM swap attack were responsible for the hack.

Meanwhile, users are advised to be careful before clicking any links posted on any social media platform as some of these links require users to link their wallets, which are often malicious and act as a waller drain.