Crypto Scammers Flock to Exploit Verified Twitter Handles Following Merge Arrival

The hackers have also been changing the profile pictures of compromised accounts to that of Buterin’s.

Written by Radhika Parashar, Edited by Siddharth Suvarna | Updated: 16 September 2022 14:01 IST

Crypto Scammers Flock to Exploit Verified Twitter Handles Following Merge Arrival

Photo Credit: Twitter/ @XcelDefi

Twitter users posted screenshots and attempted at stirring awareness

Highlights

The Merge went live on September 15
The Merge is being touted as historic in crypto
Scammers are trying to exploit excitement around Merge

It has been 24 hours since the Ethereum blockchain historically went green with the arrival of its eco-friendly upgrade, called the Merge. The excitement around this launch has however, been mixed with scam threats looming large over unsuspecting Ethereum enthusiasts, exposing them to financial risks. Scammers seem to be fishing for access information of verified Twitter accounts just to later the account names to Ethereum co-founder's name, Vitalik Buterin. Later they have been using these hacked verified accounts to post about fake giveaways to try and lure-in potential victims into their vicious scam webs.

Recently, the verified handle of India's Go First airline was compromised byvitalik-buterin) unidentified hackers, who changed the name of the handle to Vitalik Buterin was giving away 100,000 Ether coins on a first-come-first-serve basis.

A potentially malicious link was also shared by Go First, founded as Indian ultra-low-cost airline GoAir based in Mumbai, Maharashtra and owned by the Wadia Group.

India Ranks Above US, Russia on Global Crypto Adoption Index: Chainalysis

The scam was quickly noticed by Twitter users, who posted screenshots and attempted at stirring awareness.

seems like everybody impersonates @VitalikButerin, but you gotta love the blue check and prominent amplification.

(p.s. THIS IS A SCAM) pic.twitter.com/xw3IHI7muv
— Steve Randy Waldman (@interfluidity) September 14, 2022

In the last few days, screenshots of similar Ether giveaway posts from verified accounts named after Buterin surfaced on Twitter, amplifying the alerts around these potential crypto scams.

The hackers have also been changing the profile pictures of the compromised accounts to resemble that of Buterin's.

This is How Indian Crypto Insiders Have Welcomed Ethereum’s ‘Merge’

vitalik.eth @sreeradhabasuET
:radioactive_sign: is a fake ! SCAM !:face_with_symbols_on_mouth::face_with_symbols_on_mouth:#Ethereum #EthereumMerge #SCAM

real is @VitalikButerin #nftlove #nft #finallypoor pic.twitter.com/cHvSldpM4X
— pjArtbasel :arrow_right: #conceptualART NFTart digitalART# (@patrickjennigm1) September 14, 2022

The 2nd fake (and verified) @VitalikButerin account I've seen in 24 hours- @Twitter @verified can y'all do something about these please people are going to be scammed pic.twitter.com/AjlRYYZCv3
— Teetyy (@TeetyyTheBOI) September 14, 2022

A fake account of @VitalikButerin having 6m followers :eyes::eyes:… something gotta be done @TwitterSupport @Twitter @cz_binance pic.twitter.com/Oq7fjtmAsT
— 𝙰𝙸𝙼-0 (@mamaki__) September 14, 2022

:warning:Be aware of fake accounts:warning:

Real : @VitalikButerin pic.twitter.com/adVJih5ma4
— XcelDefi (@XcelDefi) September 14, 2022

Members of the crypto community are urging each other to check the usernames of all handles reflecting the name and picture of the Ethereum co-founder to identify fake ones and report them.

Essentially, now the Ethereum blockchain has transitioned to an energy-efficient ‘proof-of-stake (POS)' mining model from its previous, power intensive ‘proof-of-work (POW)' mining model. This upgrade has slashed Ethereum blockchain's power consumption by 99.95 percent.

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Further reading: Cryptocurrency, Ether, ETH, Crypto Scammers, Vitalik Buterin, Merge

Radhika Parashar

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Radhika Parashar is a senior correspondent for Gadgets 360. She has been reporting on tech and telecom for the last three years now and will be focussing on writing about all things crypto. Besides this, she is a major sitcom nerd and often replies in Chandler Bing and Michael Scott references. For tips or queries you could reach out to her at RadhikaP@ndtv.com. More