Over the weekend, hackers targeted the social media accounts of Visa and Hollywood actor Dean Norris to promote fraudulent crypto tokens.
The incidents have raised concerns about the increasing use of compromised high-profile accounts to execute crypto scams.
Visaโs Facebook compromise
On Jan. 26, hackers accessed Visaโs official Facebook page and used it to promote a suspicious Solana-based crypto.
The attackers claimed the token was part of Visaโs promise to release a crypto token. They wrote:
โRemember back in 2014, we said in 11 years weโd have a coin called โVISA.โ Well, itโs 2025, and here we are!โ
However, crypto community members met the announcement with skepticism and warned industry players against it.
Meanwhile, critics ridiculed the scammerโs choice of Facebook for the scam, suggesting it was unlikely to attract seasoned crypto investors.
Still, the tokenโs market cap reportedly surged to $6 million before the attackers orchestrated a rug pullโa tactic in which malicious actors sell off tokens abruptly, crashing the price and leaving investors at a loss.
Visa has yet to issue any official comment on the incident.
Visa is a prominent traditional financial institution that has made significant advancements in the crypto scene. It has partnerships with companies like Coinbase, Transak, Circle, and Solana to build connections between traditional finance and crypto.
Dean Norris hack
On Jan. 25, American actor Dean Norrisโ X account was compromised to promote a memecoin named $DEAN.
The hackers had shared a digitally altered image of the actor holding a sign featuring the tokenโs name to lend credibility to the scam.
However, Norris debunked the token in a Jan. 26 video statingย that his platform was hacked.
The Breaking Bad actor urged his followers to disregard the token and clarified that he had no involvement. He expressed disappointment over the backlash on Reddit and reiterated that he rarely uses social media platforms.
He stated:
โThis is Dean Norris actually, and that whole crazy crypto sh*t was a complete fake scam. I was hacked.โ
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