The Vancouver Canucks‘ Twitter/X account has been compromised.
Shortly after 2 PM Pacific, the Canucks’ Twitter account posted a deepfake video of Elon Musk stating that he had a new cryptocoin available at a website the hackers used the Canucks’ Twitter account to promote.
The post was deleted at least twice, but reposted and pinned to the Canucks’ profile for nearly an hour. The Canucks’ Public Relations department sent out a statement saying the following:
“Please note that the @Canucks Twitter/X account has been compromised. Please disregard any recent posts until further notice. We are working with the platform and the NHL to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.”
The hackers posted their video under an X post from United States President Donald Trump, which brought on some replies from hockey-focused accounts that the hackers then replied to.
One user replied to the Canucks saying “announce Hughes to NJ already”, to which the Canucks’ account replied to with “Noted.” The temperature has been high in the market as of late, as Rick Tocchet announced his departure from the Canucks last week. The team could certainly use a win soon in what has been a disastrous 2024-25 NHL season.
Another reply the hackers sent was to a user on X who asked the obvious: “Canucks twitter hacked?”
Nothing to see here, said the “Canucks” from their account.
As of 3:40 PM, the Canucks were unable to confirm if they’d regained full control of their account, though the posts in question appear to have been deleted.
Former Canucks goaltender Eddie Lack was recently the victim of a similar scam, where hackers took over his account, rebranded, and pushed a crypto scam using Lack’s account, which has over 140,000 followers. Lack has yet to regain control of his account after it was taken over late last week.
A crypto coin, or cryptocurrency, is a digital or virtual currency that uses cryptography for security. It’s designed to be a peer-to-peer payment system, meaning individuals can send and receive payments directly without needing a central authority like a bank. These coins are stored in digital wallets and use blockchain technology for transaction recording. Bitcoin is the most notable and popular form of cryptocurrency, but there are countless other crypto coins out there, including many like this one, that are flat out scams.
More to come.
