Crypto Hacker Claims to Have Netted $700,000 by Hijacking McDonald’s Instagram Account

Crypto hackers, known for their relentless attacks on the sector, are now targeting popular brands and celebrities on social media to ensnare unsuspecting victims. In a recent breach, McDonald's Instagram account was hacked to promote a fraudulent memecoin called 'Grimace.' With a substantial following of 5.1 million, the fast-food giant frequently shares promotional content on the platform. McDonald's has since regained control of its account.

After the attack on August 21, hackers altered McDonald's Instagram bio to claim they had stolen $700,000 (approximately Rs. 5.8 crore) through the scam, causing alarm among the brand's 5.1 million followers.

Here's What Exactly Happened

Through tweets, blockchain analytics firm Bubblemaps said that whoever breached the account, owned 75 percent of Grimace's supply through Solana memecoin deployer pump.fun.

“The hacker used multiple addresses to buy (Grimace) on Pumpfun simultaneously, then spread into ~100 addresses. Sold for $700,000 (roughly Rs. 5.8 crore),” Bubblemaps said.

Screenshots of McDonald's hacked Instagram account have surfaced on X. They show hackers misinforming account followers that the scam memecoin Grimace was McDonald's experiment on Solana blockchain while promising holders of the Grimace memecoin a follow back on their accounts. Within 30 minutes of these posts being published, the market cap of Grimace rose to $25 million (roughly Rs. 20.9 crore), DexScreener's data reflected.

As per McDonald's Instagram bio changed by the hacker, users were ‘rug pulled' by ‘India_X_kr3w'. “Thankyou for the $700,000 in Solana,” the hacker noted.

While some users on X are speculating that the attacker might be Indian, based on the hacker's name and the Indian flag emoji left in the hacked bio, no one from India has claimed responsibility for the breach. Therefore, it's currently unclear whether the hacker is actually linked to India.

What Happened Next

McDonald's has managed to recover its account since the hack. All posts related to the Grimace memecoin and the edited bio have been removed. As per DexScreener, the price of Grimace has dropped to $0.0003752 (roughly Rs. 0.031) since the hack.

A recent report by Web3 bug bounty platform Immunefi claimed that in the second quarter of 2024 – between April and June – crypto scams rose by 91 percent compared to the second quarter of 2023. The report said the crypto industry has lost $509 million (roughly Rs. 4,261 crore) to frauds and scams in Q2 2024.