Metallica X account gets hijacked to promote crypto

The attackers were able to gain access to the heavy metal band’s account, immediately leveraging the account’s popularity and million-strong following to promote a new SOLANA token simply known as METAL.

Metallica’s social media team was able to quickly regain access of the profile, however, and deleted all mentions of METAL. The original post had all the trappings of an actual token launch, with the hackers informing the account’s followers that METAL was created in collaboration with Ticketmaster, an event company, and giving it a semblance of authenticity.

The token was also launched on pump.fun, a Solana token deployer, which had many wonders if this was indeed a real project in the works. Some must have been tempted by the fact that the METAL token also led to a 25% off on ticket purchases.

Metallica’s hijacked account also claimed that fintech firm MoonPay was involved with the token, something that was caught quickly by the latter, and debunked publicly in a terse but adamant statement: “MoonPay does NOT support METAL.”

MoonPay also used a clever play of words, using a popular title from a Metallica album, and adding: “If someone is offering you a METAL token, they are not the master of puppets — they’re the master of scams.”

Embarrassing as such incidents are, they have become an indelible part of what it means to be popular. Hackers find their way into social media accounts, whether by SIM swapping or some other nefarious means, and the incidence of such attacks has been increasing.

As to the actual harm done by the METAL token, many people have been taken in, with the METAL token hitting a valuation of $3.37 million only 20 minutes after it was launched. Three hours after its peak, though, the token was worth less than $90,000, with the price now hitting flat bottom.

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