Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin appears to have been the latest victim of a Twitter hack, resulting in over $690,000 stolen from users. The hacker posted a fake giveaway link for commemorative non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on Buterin’s account, which has 4.9 million followers.
Victims who clicked the malicious link were prompted to connect their crypto wallets to mint the fake NFTs. Instead, this gave the hacker access to drain funds from the connected wallets.
The scam was quickly identified on Crypto Twitter, but not before the hacker made off with more than $147,000 within the first hour. The total funds stolen continued climbing to hit $691,000, according to blockchain investigator ZachXBT.
Buterin has yet to publicly comment on the hack. The incident highlights the ongoing vulnerability of major crypto figures’ social media accounts to coordinated hacks and scams.
In the wake of this latest high-profile hack, Changpeng Zhao of Binance recommended Twitter implement more robust security features like two-factor authentication. The platform’s security compared to traditional finance remains a concern.
This event also adds fuel to the debate on whether developers should compensate users who fall victim to scams involving hacked accounts. For now, the victims of the fake Buterin NFT giveaway face no recourse to recover their lost funds.
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