A surprising event occurred when hackers took control of the Nasdaq X (Twitter) account and used it to pump the price of a meme cryptocurrency called STONKS. The value of this currency skyrocketed to $80 million, but then plummeted quickly within a few hours. The attackers had linked a fake X account as a branch of Nasdaq. They impersonated the official Nasdaq account to post tweets promoting the meme cryptocurrency STONKS. This was a fraudulent strategy, exploiting Nasdaq's image to attract investor attention.
This newly created meme cryptocurrency is similar to an existing Token in the Solana ecosystem, quickly climbing the market rankings. Facing "competition" from a slew of other Meme Coins, the market capitalization of STONKS surged. However, the attention did not last long; when market participants realized this was just a scam, the Token value plummeted. The fake links and associated accounts were quickly disabled.
Scammers often impersonate famous individuals or companies to promote fake Tokens, which is not a new occurrence. By leveraging the influence of high-profile accounts, they amplify the scope of their fraud. Nasdaq became an ideal target due to its financial reputation, lending an air of legitimacy to the Meme Coin.
This successful attack underscores that companies like Nasdaq need to strengthen authentication measures such as 2FA, continuously monitor accounts, and quickly address any detected illegitimate activities.
