On Tuesday, the X account of UK MP Lucy Powell was hacked to advertise a cryptocurrency rip-off. This noticed her turn into the seventh MP to have their account hacked since Elon Musk acquired Twitter three years in the past.
Powell is the chief of the Home of Commons, and her account was used to advertise a fraudulent “House of Commons Coin” beneath the ticker “$HCC.”
A CoinShares senior analysis affiliate instructed the BBC that the token noticed 34 transactions and certain made a revenue of lower than £300 ($400).
In 2024, 4 UK MPs had been hacked to advertise varied crypto scams, together with the Inexperienced Celebration’s Deputy Chief and Welsh Labour MP Chris Elmore. The one MP who’s account was hacked for causes aside from to advertise a crypto rip-off was Chris Heaton-Harris, whose account was used as an alternative to share offensive remarks.
You’ll be able to see the entire UK MPs hacked since Elon Musk’s X acquisition right here.
Different establishments which have suffered X hacks embody the British Military, which appeared to advertise an NFT rip-off in 2022, and the World Well being Group, which was hacked to advertise a Solana-based token known as “hacked.”
In 2022, Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle warned MPs to tighten their cellphone safety whereas claiming they’re being focused by hostile nations for delicate data.
