Crypto Hackers Promote Fake XRP Airdrop on News24 Twitter Account

The Twitter account of one of the leading news channels in India – News24 – became a victim of a recent cryptocurrency scheme. Hackers breached their security to post phishing links of a fake XRP drop, urging people to click and potentially get conned. 

Crypto scammers have previously compromised the Twitter account of India’s Prime Minister – Narendra Modi – and the profiles of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA), and Mann Deshi Mahila Bank.

The Latest Victim in India

Wrongdoers took control of News24’s Twitter account and posted counterfeit Ripple events, such as an XRP airdrop. They attached compromised links regarding and even featured the image of Ripple’s CEO – Brad Galinghouse – to gain people’s trust.

Needless to say, there was no such airdrop, hinting that some of the 1.4 million followers of News24 might have become victims of the scam. 

Some fake announcements are still visible on the outlet’s Twitter account, meaning it has either not noticed the issue or has struggled to cope with the attackers.

India has recently emerged as a hotbed for such scams. Hackers compromised the official Twitter profile of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the end of 2021 and published a malicious post that the country has adopted bitcoin as legal tender and that the government has purchased 500 BTC, which will distribute to the population.

It remained unknown how many people fell victim to the scam, but their number could have been substantial, considering that Modi has over 87 million followers. 

Bad actors stepped in again a month later, breaching the security of the Twitter accounts of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA), and Mann Deshi Mahila Bank. They shared several tweets featuring Elon Musk, who seemingly promoted cryptocurrencies.

The Fake Arbitrum Airdrops

As CryptoPotato recently reported, cryptocurrency participants should be cautious about another scam related to the Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution – Arbitrum. 

Scammers flooded the space with fake airdrops of the project and phishing websites which, upon clicking, can lead to financial loss for users. Arbitrum News DAO said it detected over 270 such sites.

Recall that the actual ARB token airdrop will occur on March 23. Consumers can view all necessary details and check their eligibility here.