Hackers Hijack Kylian Mbappe’s X Account To Promote Crypto Scam: Report

French soccer star Kylian Mbappe’s X account was hacked on August 29, with the attackers posting several messages promoting a suspicious cryptocurrency called “$MBAPPE.”

The posts, which also included opinions on controversial issues such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, attracted the attention of many and led to significant financial losses for some.

The investor loses more than a million dollars

According to data from analytics firm Lookonchain, an unwitting victim of fraudulent activity on the soccer star’s social account created a new wallet and invested 7,156 SOL, equivalent to $1.03 million, into the token from $MBAPPE.

Unfortunately, the spend value plummeted to just $9,200 soon after as the token went through a rapid pump and dump cycle.

The dubious coin, which was launched on Pump.fun, saw a brief spike in value before crashing. The Solana-based platform allows users to create meme coins quickly and cheaply. However, while this ease of use has attracted many, it also comes with risks, as evidenced by the Mbappe incident.

Quick wins and quick elimination

Interestingly, even with some users caught off guard by the scam, others apparently managed to profit from it. For example, cryptojournalist Colin Wu reported that a person put only 2 SOL, which translates to about $286, into the MBAPPE token and sold his deposit at the maximum price, earning about 1,398 SOL, equivalent to $200,000 .

The legitimacy of the posts had been questioned by many, with some speculating whether Mbappé himself might have been involved. However, it soon became clear that his account had been compromised. The messages have been removed from your profile.

According to various reports, the scammers behind the fake cryptocurrency sold more than 90,000 units before disappearing. One of his tweets shared an address and asked fans to send him funds, after which the Real Madrid player would follow them on social media. It’s still unclear if anyone fell for the trick.

Mbappe’s attack is not an isolated incident. McDonald’s recently had its Instagram account manipulated to orchestrate a carpetbagger. According to reports, the perpetrators of this particular hack sent messages to the fast food giant’s social account promoting a token called “Gimace”.

In less than half an hour, with many of McDonald’s 5.1 million followers buying into the hype, the value of the fake crypto soared to more than $25 million before falling. The scammers then used the same account to brag about making more than $700,000 in user funds.

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