Animoca Brands Co-Founder Yat Siu’s X Account Compromised by Hackers to Promote a Fake Token

Highlights:

• Scammers successfully hacked Yat Siu’s X account to promote a fake token.
• A renowned on-chain Investigator reported that the scammers were the same group responsible for most crypto-related X handle takeovers in the past month.
• Animoca Brands confirmed that its co-founder’s account recovery process has progressed swiftly.

In the early hours of today, news broke out about a compromise on Animoca Brands co-founder Yat Siu’s X account. Like most social media handle compromise, the hackers took advantage of the unauthorized access to promote a fake crypto token.

According to reputable sources, the now-deleted tweet shared by the malicious actors informed customers about the launch of a cryptocurrency Animoca Brands (MOCA) on Solana’s Pump.fun platform. The hackers coined the fake token name from Animoca Brands and its Mocaverse-associated Non-Fungible-Token (NFT) asset. The name made the fake token a plausible gamble for its victims.

It is worth noting that Animoca Brands is a leading Hong Kong-based blockchain gaming platform. Hence, one could qualify the compromise on its co-founder’s X account as a deliberate effort to swindle unsuspecting victims’ funds.

Meanwhile, before information emerged to create awareness about the fake token, it had soared considerably to hit peak levels at $36,700 before eventually dropping below $7,000, with depleting trading volume.

🚨 Animoca Brands co-founder Yat Siu’s X account was hacked to promote a fake token! The hacker posted a link to a fake "Animoca Brands (MOCA)" token on Solana, which spiked briefly before plummeting in value.

🛑 This is part of a string of similar attacks on crypto X accounts.… pic.twitter.com/6Zi9vje97Z

— Crypto B 👑 (Never DM first) 🇧🇷 (@TheCrypto_B) December 26, 2024

Renowned On-Chain Investigator Sheds Light on the Recent Scam Attempt

Reporting the Animoca Brands co-founder’s X compromise on its verified handle, blockchain investigator ZachXBT noted that the attack was part of a recent trend targeting reputable X handles for scam purposes.

In the tweet relaying the hacking incident, ZachXBT noted that those responsible for the X account breach were probably the same group responsible for stealing approximately $500,00 in the past month. Per the blockchain investigator, the malicious actors have targeted about fifteen X handles with similar scam motives.

ZachXBT stated:

“Yat Siu (co-founder of Animoca) likely fell for the same phishing email a few hours ago as the scam token was deployed by the same address as the Kick & Vanar CEO Account Takeovers (ATOs).”

It is worth mentioning that cyber thieves access their victims’ X accounts by posing as X’s support team staff. Subsequently, they send out fake notices about copyright infringement to their targets.

The notifications contain fraudulent links mimicking X’s account reset and two-factor authentication websites. By clicking the link, the scammers steal their victims’ personal information. Therefore, they gain unauthorized access to the X handles.

Update: Yat Siu (co-founder of Animoca) likely fell for the same phishing email a few hours ago as the scam token was deployed by the same address as the Kick & Vanar CEO ATOs

Deployer address
BL1hs3jw58d1S9xw7cKRUx9wXY94se9Ydt7bCgN1W3pL pic.twitter.com/bTA1QUjJ7b

— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) December 26, 2024

Animoca Brands Shares Update About the Scam Incidence

As expected, updates about the unfortunate incident have emerged from Animoca Brands. In one of the tweets shared by Mocaverse, an Animoca Brands affiliated X account for its MOCA NFT, the gaming platform confirmed the incident while urging users to remain vigilant.

Still, on the same tweet, Animoca Brands confirmed that the account recovery process mirrored a swift recovery path. The blockchain gaming outlet stated: “We have confirmation that X has secured control of the account and is now in the process of verifying true account ownership. The evidence seems to suggest that this was a case of stolen identity as the account had standard security implementations (such as 2FA).”

In addition, Animoca Brands revealed that it has strengthened security across its official X accounts, with no detectable vulnerability. It noted that the incident targeting MOCA signifies the NFT’s growing relevance. Per the tweet, the malicious actors aimed to capitalize on users’ growing interest in MOCA to steal unsuspecting victims’ valuables.

Incident Report:
This morning [Dec 26, 2024, 09:00 HKT], Yat’s official X account @ysiu was reported to have been compromised by unauthorized access despite with 2FA set up, where the bad actor used the account to post false information and links regarding a fake SOLANA token.…

— Mocaverse💼🪐 (@Moca_Network) December 26, 2024