Crypto scammers hijack Skip Bayless’ X to promote SKIP and back Trump

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As a seasoned analyst with years of experience under my belt, observing the world of finance and technology from various vantage points, I find myself shaking my head once again at the antics of crypto scammers who continue to prey on unsuspecting victims, even high-profile figures like Skip Bayless. It’s akin to a cat and mouse game, where the scammers are the mice, nimbly scurrying through the digital landscape, leaving a trail of chaos in their wake, while their victims, like Bayless, are the cats, unknowingly providing them with a platform to peddle their schemes.

Skip Bayless, an American television personality and sports commentator, recently fell prey to cryptocurrency fraudsters who manipulated his X account to advertise a Solana-based token named after him, namely SKIP.

Following the takeover of a previous ESPN commentator’s account, the hacker shared politically charged content that supported Donald Trump for president and advocated for the SKIP token using slogans such as “Revitalize crypto!” and “Crypto flourishes under Trump.

Based on information from DEX Screener, right after a post showcasing a cartoon illustration of Bayless next to the Solana symbol, together with the token’s contract address, was published on his account, the hacker started offloading tokens.

As a crypto investor, I must confess that the investment strategy didn’t generate substantial profits. Regrettably, the malicious actor was only able to pocket a modest sum of $8,200. However, the token did achieve a significant milestone by reaching a market capitalization above $69,000 and securing a listing on Raydium. Unfortunately, at the time of press, the token has plummeted to around $4,100, representing a steep drop of over 94%.

In a recent string of posts, the hacker has aimed offensive language at both Vice President Kamala Harris and NBA legend LeBron James. These inflammatory messages remain visible to Bayless’ massive audience of over 3.2 million X followers as they scroll through their feeds.

The well-known TV figure has recently been added to a growing roster of celebrities whose X accounts have been hacked this year, with similar scams being the apparent motive. On November 4, the account of rapper Wiz Khalifa unexpectedly endorsed the WIZ token, causing its price to surge over 2,000% almost instantly following its launch, before experiencing a dramatic drop.

50 Cent experienced a hacking incident in June, resulting in the unauthorized release of GUNIT tokens, enabling the attackers to amass over $300 million within half an hour. Similarly, during the same month, Metallica suffered a cyberattack that saw their account being taken over. The hackers then fabricated partnership claims with MoonPay and promoted the unrelated METAL token.

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2024-11-06 14:42