In a shocking twist, Dean Norris, famous for his role as Hank Schrader in Breaking Bad, became the latest celebrity victim of a social media hack that shook the crypto world. His Twitter account was taken over by cybercriminals, who used it to promote the $DEAN memecoin, launching a full-blown pump-and-dump scheme.
Read on to uncover how the attackers pulled it off, the aftermath of the attack, and what this means for the future of crypto endorsements.
The attackers used content from Norris’ X account to create fake media. On January 26, they posted photos and videos, including one where Norris appeared to hold a sign promoting $DEAN’s launch. A deepfake video further misled users, making it look like Norris was endorsing the token and claiming its legitimacy.
During the height of the scam on January 25, DexScreener showed $DEAN’s market capitalization peaked at $8.43 million. The token’s price surged due to the viral campaign, but the spike was short-lived. Once Norris regained control of his account and publicly denounced the scam, $DEAN’s price dropped sharply.
In a video and social media posts, Norris condemned the fraud, calling it a “fake scam.” The actor explained that he doesn’t use X often and only learned about the hack when his friends warned him.
This isn’t the first time Norris has been targeted by hackers. Last year, his profile was also hijacked to promote a fake memecoin scam.
The rise of celebrity account takeovers and fake crypto promotion campaigns have threatened to damage the crypto industry’s credibility to severe levels. Last week Nasdaq’s X account was compromised to promote meme coin.
The problem of determining real endorsement authenticity from fake ones has become difficult due to deepfakes alongside complex social engineering tactics.
What’s real and what’s fake – who can even tell anymore? We’ll keep you updated.
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