BTC scammers use Narendra Modi's Twitter account to announce India’s Bitcoin adoption

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BTC scammers use Narendra Modi's Twitter account to announce India’s Bitcoin adoption

The PM’s office also advised everyone to ignore any social media post made using Modi’s personal account during the time it was compromised.

Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi / Image by: Wikimedia Commons

Mon, 13 Dec 2021, 05:21 am UTC

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Twitter account was compromised by hackers on Sunday. The cybercriminals used the social media account to announce that India has adopted Bitcoin (BTC) and that the government will be distributing the crypto to its citizens.

The unidentified hackers posted the fake Bitcoin announcement on December 12 using Modi’s compromised Twitter account @narendramodi. While the post was later deleted, several Twitter users were able to save the post and shared screenshots of the tweet, according to CNN.

“India has officially adopted Bitcoin as legal tender,” the now-deleted post said. “The government has officially bought 500 BTC and is distributing them to all residents of the country. The future has come today!”

The hack happened at midnight in India, which is around 4:00 pm EST, according to Cointelegraph. Twitter user Priya was among those who first noticed the untimely post and suspected of a hack. “Bitcoin scammers declare the cryptocurrency as India’s legal tender,” Priya wrote.

One indication that crypto scammers were involved in the hack is the link attached to the tweet. The link urged Indian citizens to sign up so they could claim their share of a BTC giveaway.

The tweet was later deleted and a confirmation of the hack was given using the Prime Minister’s official account. “

Soon after the hack, the unauthorized tweet was deleted and the hack was confirmed by the Prime Minister’s official Twitter account. “The Twitter handle of PM @narendramodi was very briefly compromised,” the PM tweeted. “The matter was escalated to Twitter and the account has been immediately secured.”

The PM’s office also advised everyone to ignore any social media post made using Modi’s personal account during the time it was compromised. “In the brief period that the account was compromised, any Tweet shared must be ignored,” the PM said.

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