The official Twitter handle of the crypto exchange KuCoin has been hacked. Consequently, its native token, KCS traded lower today.
The announcement of the infiltration came from the company's Telegram account.
The hack only affected users who interacted with the fraudulent posts on Twitter, but no exchange assets were stolen from the exchange.
This social media breach rocked the crypto community and led to huge losses.
The KuCoin Twitter account was compromised on April 24. It lasted for 45 mins from 00:00 (UTC+2).
A phishing site was posted, which led to the hack on unsuspecting users that clicked on it. Although the attack was brief, the firm identified 22 transactions that occurred during the fraud.
Several funds — in BTC and ETH — were stolen. The total cost was approximately 22,628 USDT, with the highest single loss being $7,750 worth of ETH, per reports from the crypto market platform, Arkham.
Firstly, the company acted swiftly to recover its hacked account from official Twitter support.
In a reactionary move, the company began making investigations. It evaluated and blocked dubious addresses to prevent a recurrence.
Afterwards, the company vowed to repay affected users of the hack. It also pledged to improve security on its platform to forestall a repeat of this event.
"In addition to Twitter's existing 2FA, the KuCoin team will implement additional security measures to fortify the protection of our social media accounts," their official handle stated.
They planned to conduct comprehensive investigations on the incident and said they would notify the public of any updates.
Finally, they asked their users not to open any web links that impersonate the company to guard themselves.
This event proves how hackers now utilize prominent Twitter accounts to operate scams. They post fake giveaway posts under these renowned accounts and scam any consumer who accesses their phishing links.
Just last month, some hackers infiltrated the Twitter account of Circle's Chief Strategy Officer, Dante Disparte. They touted a sham USDC airdrop from the stablecoin issuer.
Similarly, criminal elements also hacked the account of a news agency in India — News 24. They posted phishing links of a fake XRP airdrop, persuading people to click and probably get duped.
Crypto scammers have also compromised the accounts of famous individuals in the past. Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and Changpeng Zhao, to name a few, are among those who have been hacked for bogus crypto promotions.
To that end, crypto holders are increasingly advised to avoid opening suspicious links online. They are also warned to desist from sending tokens to anyone who promises unrealistic returns.