Cryptocurrency hackers, known for their relentless attacks on the sector, are now targeting popular brands and celebrities on social media to trap unsuspecting victims. In a recent hack, McDonald’s Instagram account was hacked to promote a fraudulent memecoin called “Grimace.” With a significant following of 5.1 million, the fast-food giant often shares promotional content on the platform. McDonald’s has since regained control of its account.
Following the August 21 attack, hackers changed McDonald’s Instagram profile to claim they had stolen $700,000 (about Rs 5.8 crore) in a fraud, sparking concern among the brand’s 5.1 million followers.
Here’s what exactly happened
Blockchain analytics firm Bubblemaps reported on Twitter that the person who hacked the account owned 75 percent of Grimace’s supply through Solana’s memecoin distribution company pump.fun.
“The hacker used multiple addresses to buy (Grimace) on Pumpfun at once, then it spread to ~100 addresses. It sold for $700,000 (around Rs 5.8 crore),” Bubblemaps said.
Screenshots of the hacked McDonald’s Instagram account have surfaced on X. They show hackers misleading followers of the account that the Grimace memecoin scam was an experiment by McDonald’s on the Solana blockchain, while promising Grimace memecoin holders a follow-back on their accounts. Within 30 minutes of these posts going live, Grimace’s market capitalization had jumped to $25 million (around Rs 20.9 crore), according to DexScreener data.
According to McDonald’s Instagram bio changed by the hacker, users were “dragged” by “India_X_kr3w.” “Thanks for the $700,000 in Solana,” the hacker noted.
McDonald’s defrauded of $700,000
McDonald’s Instagram page was allegedly hacked by someone named India_X_kr3w. They hacked the page and posted a memecoin called grimace, which caused his mc to grow from 30k to over 15m and posted a telegram link with the song Blue Bentley photo: twitter.com/utrvRt8GUr
— Paris (@ParisWifCrypto) August 21, 2024
Someone hacked McDonald’s Instagram and posted some tokens on the Solana blockchain. Be careful, it’s a scam.
But it is also a signal that we are very, very close. photo:twitter.com/KqJVeiIpBR— Marcin Jelec (@MarcinJelec) August 21, 2024
While some X users speculate that the attacker may be Indian, based on the hacker’s name and the Indian flag emoji left in the hacked bio, no one from India has claimed responsibility for the breach. So it’s unclear at this time whether the hacker is actually affiliated with India.
What happened next
McDonald’s managed to recover its account after the hack. All posts related to the Grimace memecoin and the edited bio have been deleted. According to DexScreener, the price of Grimace fell to $0.0003752 (around Rs. 0.031) after the hack.
A recent report by Web3 bug bounty platform Immunefi claims that cryptocurrency scams increased by 91 percent in the second quarter of 2024 – from April to June – compared to the second quarter of 2023. The report stated that the cryptocurrency industry lost $509 million (around Rs 4,261 crore) to scams and frauds in the second quarter of 2024.
