My X Account Was Hijacked to Sell a Fake WIRED Memecoin. Then Came the Backlash

Earlier this year, a hacker used my X account to hawk a fraudulent WIRED-branded crypto coin. After they pulled the rug on investors, I faced the aftermath.

Before I was fully awake, still fog-headed and bleary-eyed after my alarm, I could already tell that something was wrong. It was 7:30 am on a frosty February morning, and my phone was already lit up with notifications. As my eyes adjusted to the light, I started to read.

“Congratulations, you’ve just scammed the wrong person,” read one message delivered to my personal Telegram account by an anonymous sender. “You have 10 minutes to refund the $2.8K you stole from me.” They appended a cryptocurrency wallet address.

Bewildered, I rifled through my messages, emails, and social media accounts. The situation quickly became clear: Somebody had gained access to my X account and used it to promote a fraudulent WIRED-branded crypto ...