Ethereum Founder Vitalik Buterin’s Twitter (X) Account Posted A Phishing Scam That Led To Many Users’ Wallets Being Drained Of Tokens and Valuable NFTs

By: Jeremy Nation

Crypto News

Earlier on Saturday, the social media account of Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin was hijacked. A malicious actor used Buterin’s X handle to post a phishing link. Taken in by Buterin’s apparent endorsement, a number of users lost high-value NFTs.

Victims were lured in with the prospect of minting a commemorative ConsenSys NFT, but found their wallets drained once they confirmed a transaction on the phishing site. The scammer’s wallet currently holds assets worth over $390,000, according to Etherscan, but at one point, as noted by crypto sleuth ZachXBT, the hacker had amassed at least $691,000 worth of stolen loot.

Hacker's address balance

Among the hacker’s spoils was a piece of NFT history, the first Larva Labs Crypto Punk to be claimed by a member of the general public, according to X user quit.

The current highest bid for a Crypto Punk on the NFT marketplace, Blur, is 45 ETH, or approximately $73,500.

The post has since been taken down, and Buterin is yet to post on X since the incident occurred. It remains unclear as to how the account was compromised.