Hackers Strike Again, Taking Over Non-Profit Twitter Account To Impersonate Affiliate Profile For Coinbase

Hackers have been constantly using Twitter over the last six months in a way that can con consumers. The recent cases have involved taking over verified accounts of major retailers and even celebrities, but 2019 is starting off with a different spin – impersonating an affiliate account of Coinbase.

This fake affiliate account was originally the home of a Belgian non-profit organization called the Federation of Enterprises. This organization is meant to help with the promotion of Belgian businesses and their best interests. However, the account was taken over when hackers listed a scam giveaway. They attempted to attract Coinbase’s customers by pretending to celebrate the growth of the user base in a tweet.

Once the hackers had control of the FEB Twitter account, they recreated what the account used to be. Instead, the description was modified to say, “Official Coinbase Promotion Account.” The images for the main profile and the “cover” were switched to show Coinbase’s brand, and there was even a link to the Coinbase website.

However, the one thing that the scammers could not manage to alter was the account handle, which was @VBOFEB. As of now, the branding is not on the account anymore. The reposted tweets from the verified Coinbase account have not been taken off of the profile yet.

This scam giveaway mimics the sweepstakes that were posted on Twitter last year, promising investors a spot in the running for 3,000 BTC. However, the inconsistencies in the post were enough to raise some eyebrows to the individuals that were paying attention to incorrect facts.

For instance, the user accounts had reached 25 million users in October last year, while the tweet said that the user base had only just reached 300,000.

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