New Delhi. Comedian Tanmay Bhat’s ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) account was hacked by unknown hackers ON Monday. Following the hack, a post was shared on his account, announcing a fake memecoin. Soon after, Tanmay Bhatt warned his followers via Instagram not to click on any links. The incident made people aware of social media security and crypto scams. Last night at around 8:20 pm, a strange post appeared on Tanmay Bhatt’s ex account. The post read, “I love memes and Solana, so I thought it was time to launch my own coin. Dev supply will be locked for a while, I will be using YouTube revenue from streams and videos to support this coin and implement it in my content.” The post was related to Memecoin (a new cryptocurrency) and Tanmay Bhat’s account was used to promote the coin.
Tanmay Bhatt’s reaction on Instagram
After getting hacked, Tanmay Bhatt immediately shared a post on Instagram, in which he warned his followers not to click on any links shared on X. He wrote, “My Twitter has been hacked. Please do not click on any links. Working to fix it.” After this, the crypto scam related post shared on Tanmay Bhatt’s X account was removed.
Crypto scams and their effects
This incident with Tanmay Bhat is not the only one. Over the past few years, social media accounts of several high-profile celebrities have been hacked and fraudulent messages related to cryptocurrencies have been posted through them. The most famous of these incidents was the incident in July 2020, when the Twitter accounts of prominent politicians and celebrities such as Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Kanye West, and Kim Kardashian were hacked. These hackers asked followers to send bitcoins, promising that they would double the amount sent. This type of scam is called a ‘pump and dump’ scam. In this, the price of the cryptocurrency is first boosted, then the scammers sell their holdings and the investors suffer huge losses as the price of the coin falls.
Crypto scams on celebrity accounts
Apart from Tanmay Bhat, accounts of several other celebrities have also been caught in this type of crypto scams. In August 2024, football player Kylian Mbappe’s Twitter account was hacked, where criminals posted false claims about the sale of cryptocurrencies and possible transfers to other football clubs. Accounts of celebrities such as Sydney Sweeney and Doja Cat have also been hacked to promote crypto scams. These incidents have made it clear that scammers are adept at committing fraud by taking advantage of popularity on social media.
Memecoin scams and their impact
Memecoin scams, such as the one seen in the case of Tanmay Bhatt, have become very common these days. Scammers launch cryptocurrencies based on new and fun themes, called ‘meme coins’. They use celebrity images or names to promote these coins. When the value of these coins increases, the scammers sell their holdings, and the value of the coin falls, causing huge losses to investors. To avoid such scams, people should be cautious and get complete information before making any kind of cryptocurrency investment.
