Image source: Getty Images
What happened
The Twitter account for Kevin O’Leary, a.k.a. Mr. Wonderful of Shark Tank fame, @kevinolearytv, appeared to be hacked by crypto scammers Thursday. It sent out multiple now-deleted tweets about a crypto giveaway of 5,000 Bitcoin (BTC) and 15,000 Ethereum (ETH), although the accompanying image listed 5,000 ETH. The links to these giveaways prompted respondents to send their own cryptocurrency funds first to verify their wallet address.
These scams typically involve a fake Twitter account impersonating the celebrity in question. In this case, hackers were able to access O’Leary’s real account and send out a series of tweets. This included a tweet saying, “My accounts was not hacked! Last night I said on TV that I was going to do a giveaway. Enjoy,” as recorded by Jordan Major of Finbold in an early report on the hack.
So what
Earlier this year, crypto scam losses since 2021 hit $1 billion. Cryptocurrency scams are common, and as more people have started investing through crypto apps, fraud reports have skyrocketed.
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Crypto scams target unsuspecting people, and you could be one of them. A crypto giveaway scam, like the one in question here, is a popular type of scam designed to get people to send scammers their cryptocurrency. Scammers impersonate a celebrity online, normally choosing one associated with crypto such as O’Leary. They send messages claiming to be holding a giveaway for anyone who wants to participate. The link to the “giveaway” includes a crypto wallet address, instructions to send funds to verify your own address, and a promise that you’ll get twice as much or more back.
Scammers keep all the cryptocurrency they’re sent as part of the supposed address verification and never send anything back. Since cryptocurrency transactions are irreversible, the victims have no way to recover…
