Hackers Hijack McDonald’s Instagram Account for a Deceptive “Rug Pull” Scam
Unaware investors suffered a large financial loss when hackers gained access to McDonald’s Instagram account on August 21, 2024, and utilized it to advertise a fictitious cryptocurrency named GRIMACE.
Before the business reclaimed control of its account, the attackers, who went under the name “India_X_Kr3w,” were able to withdraw around $700,000 from the scheme.
In barely two hours after its introduction, the GRIMACE token attracted a lot of interest and reached a market valuation of $25 million.
This quick ascent was followed by a disastrous decline in value, with the asset losing almost 95% of its value soon after its introduction.
DEX Screener data showed that in the same short period, GRIMACE’s trading volume peaked at about $20 million, demonstrating the frenzied trading activity surrounding the token.
Even after the rug was pulled, demand for the GRIMACE token persisted, according to reports of increased liquidity on the Raydium trading platform.
It appears from this unexpected conduct that some investors continued to invest in a failed token because they were either naive or optimistic about the swindle. After deleting all postings about the bogus cryptocurrency, McDonald’s needed almost two hours to get its Instagram account back.
JUST IN: McDonalds' instagram account posts a crypto rug pull after being hacked. pic.twitter.com/R9pIhHZcPf
— Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) August 21, 2024
This episode is a part of the greater trend of Solana blockchain meme coins becoming more popular. In only the last 23 days, almost 17,400 coins have been created on Solana, according to recent data.
A significant portion of this increase may be ascribed to Pump. fun, a platform that rewards successful launches and lets users generate tokens at a cheaper cost.
A concerning figure from Dune Analytics, however, showed that just 1.39% of the tokens were generated on Pump. fun was able to finish the bonding curve, indicating that over 99% of them failed and left many investors losing money.
Memecoin creation and trade have attracted extraordinary interest in decentralized exchanges (DEXs); in July, Solana recorded $57.3 billion in trading volume, almost $3 billion more than Ethereum.
The flourishing atmosphere has also provided opportunities for con artists, who are focusing more on identity theft and Bitcoin fraud.
McDonald’s USA acknowledged the hacking incident in a statement to the media, characterizing it as a unique incident.
After admitting to the abusive posts that surfaced during the breach, the corporation apologized to fans for the inconvenience.
Cybersecurity specialists have observed that these types of frauds frequently employ a “rug pull” technique, in which con artists advertise a fictitious cryptocurrency, draw in investments, and then take all of the money out before going dark.
The increasing tendency of hackers to target cryptocurrency-related endeavours was highlighted by Rob Hughes, chief information security officer at RSA Security.
Hughes said that such hacks have usually used tricks to get around security features like multi-factor authentication in addition to stolen or phished credentials. However, the precise technique of taking over the Instagram account is yet unknown.
This event highlights a larger problem in the cryptocurrency world, where frauds are becoming more common.
These kinds of schemes are said to have cost the economy $2.8 billion in damages in 2021. The increasing prevalence of cryptocurrencies and meme-coins necessitates investors to maintain vigilance against such fraudulent activities.
#McDonalds released a statement explaining that their account was compromised this morning. #WhenBeingAClownGoesWrong pic.twitter.com/G7jYqK51zQ
— TheShadeRoom (@TheShadeRoom) March 16, 2017
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