In a shocking twist, Dean Norris, famous for his role as Hank Schrader in Break the badhas become the latest famous victim of a social media hack that has rocked the crypto world. His Twitter account was hacked by cybercriminals, who used it to promote the $DEAN memecoin, launching a veritable pump and dump scheme.
Read on to find out how the attackers succeeded, the consequences of the attack, and what it means for the future of crypto approvals.
The Deepfake scam: what really happened?
The attackers used content from Norris’s X account to create fake media. On January 26, they posted photos and videos, including one in which Norris appeared to be holding a sign announcing the launch of $DEAN. A deepfake video misled users, making it appear that Norris was endorsing the token and claiming legitimacy.
At the height of the scam, on January 25, DexScreener showed that the market capitalization of $DEAN peaked at $8.43 million. The price of the token increased due to the viral campaign, but the rise was short-lived. Once Norris regained control of his account and publicly denounced the scam, the price of $DEAN fell sharply.
Norris replies: “I was hacked”
In a video and social media posts, Norris condemned the fraud, calling it a “fake scam.” The actor explained that he doesn’t use X often and only learned about the hack when his friends warned him.
This isn’t the first time Norris has been targeted by hackers. Last year, his profile was also hijacked to promote a fake memecoin scam.
The rise in celebrity account takeovers and fake crypto promotion campaigns have threatened to seriously damage the credibility of the crypto industry. Last week Nasdaq X account has been compromised to promote the piece itself.
The problem of determining the real authenticity of an endorsement from fake ones has become difficult due to deepfakes and complex social engineering tactics.
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