On November 14, Dogwifhat’s official X account was hijacked by crypto scammers to promote three Solana-based meme coins: Popwifnut (POPWNUT), Muu (MUU), and DogWifDoge (WIFD). The account, boasting over 115,000 followers, was rebranded with fraudulent posts urging users to buy these tokens, sparking a brief price surge. Web3 security firm Harpie confirmed the breach and advised users to avoid engaging with the compromised posts. Community members also flagged the issue, prompting swift action.
Rapid Price Surge and Crash
🚨 🚨 HACK ALERT 🚨🚨@dogwifcoin X account has been compromised.
𝗗𝗢 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗖𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗞 𝗔𝗡𝗬 𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗞𝗦 𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘!
Stay Alert 👀
Stay Safe 🛡 pic.twitter.com/RO3wBKsfTb— Harpie (@harpieio) November 15, 2024
Following the scammers’ promotions, MUU, created less than a month ago, hit an all-time high according to Dexscreener data. However, its price soon plummeted as attackers liquidated their holdings. Similar pump-and-dump patterns were observed for POPWNUT and WIFD, both created within 24 hours of the hack. At press time, the tokens were down over 83%, with market caps of $12,000 and $37,000, respectively.
Developers Regain Control
The Dogwifhat development team quickly reclaimed access to the X account, removing all traces of the scam. Despite the incident, Dogwifhat’s token (WIF) remained relatively stable, experiencing only a 17% correction in the past 24 hours, largely due to Bitcoin’s 2.4% decline.
A Recurring Crypto Scam Trend
This attack is part of a growing trend where scammers target prominent crypto X accounts. In September, Decentraland’s X account was hacked to promote a phishing campaign. Other compromised accounts, including Yahoo News UK and Lenovo India, were also used for similar fraudulent schemes. This incident underscores the importance of robust security measures to safeguard crypto projects and their communities from such scams. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are for informational purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice. Investing in or trading crypto assets comes with a risk of financial loss.