Ethereum Founder Vitalik Buterin Falls Victim to Twitter Hack – Beware of Shared Links

Ethereum (ETH) co-founder Vitalik Buterin has reportedly had his X (formerly Twitter) account compromised.

In a now-deleted tweet, the hacked account claimed that Consensys will launch a commemorative NFT to celebrate the arrival of the Proto-Danksharding feature to Ethereum.

The hacker used Buterin’s account to share a malevolent link, enticing victims with the promise of the free NFT. 

However, once victims connected their wallets, their funds were stolen.

On September 9, Dmitry Buterin, Vitalik’s father, announced the hack on X and said that Vitalik was working on regaining control of his account. 

“Disregard this post, apparently Vitalik has been hacked. He is working on restoring access,” Vitalik’s father said in the tweet. 

Users Fell Victim to the Scam

The scam has led to significant financial losses for victims who fell prey and clicked on the malicious link. 

According to blockchain investigator ZachXBT, over $691,000 was collectively lost by individuals who clicked on the deceptive link.

He revealed that the most valuable NFT stolen so far was CryptoPunk #3983, valued at approximately $250,543.

A number of crypto users also reported that they lost some valuable NFTs to the scam.  

One X user, Satoshi 767, questioned Buterin’s security measures and suggested that he should take responsibility for the incident. 

“I hate to be the one to say it, but Vitalik should take accountability for his poor op-sec and compensate those affected,” he stated, before implying that he believes Buterin’s oversight led to the attack.

“The only way this isn’t negligence on Vitalik part is if someone at X internally compromised the account, or if he was coerced in person by a criminal who threatened violence. I highly doubt that’s what happened. Most likely, this was a SIM swap.”

However, ZachXBT countered these claims, highlighting that Buterin’s high profile makes him a prime target for various hacking attempts. 

He emphasized that it is premature to conclude whether it was a SIM swap attack and pointed out the possibility of an insider or other forms of manipulation.

Hacks and Rug Pulls Responsible For Loss of $1.2 Billion in 2023

So far this year, Web3 platforms have lost over $1.2 billion in hacks and rug pulls, according to a report from Web3 bug bounty platform Immunefi.

The report revealed a total of 211 separate incidents contributing to this massive sum, with the month of August alone accounting for $23.4 million in losses.

The surge in losses during August mostly contributed to projects hosted on the newly launched Ethereum Layer 2 Base network. 

As per the report, Ethereum faced the most significant number of attacks, with five distinct incidents affecting protocols built on the network.