Security News > 2020 > July > Twitter accounts of Elon Musk, Bill Gates and others hijacked to promote crypto scam
2020-07-15 22:55
A number of high profile Twitter accounts, including Bill Gates, Elon Musk and Apple, were breached on Wednesday.
Twitter said in an official statement: "We are aware of a security incident impacting accounts Twitter accounts. We are investigating and taking steps to fix it. We will update everyone shortly".
Most of the hacked accounts have now been restored to the owner's possession and the scam posts removed.
A hacker hijacked YouTube accounts, renamed them to various Microsoft brands, and used them to broadcast a cryptocurrency Ponzi scam to thousands of users, posing as a message from Bill Gates.
Elon Musk is also a frequent target of account takeovers and hackers pushing bitcoin giveaway scams.