Hackers compromise Uniswap founder’s Twitter account to promote scam

Hayden Adams’ account released a tweet encouraging its more than 254,000 followers to click on a malicious link, falsely claiming that users’ tokens were at risk.

Members of Crypto Twitter have quickly identified and warned others against a scam being pushed by Uniswap founder Hayden Adams’ compromised account.

The “Web3 Security Alerts” channel on Telegram notified followers that Adams’ Twitter account had been compromised on July 20. The account from the Uniswap founder and CEO released a tweet to its more than 254,000 followers falsely claiming that the platform’s Permit2 contract had been “affected by an unknown exploit” and users’ tokens were at risk, encouraging them to click on a malicious link.

The first scam tweet was only live for a few minutes before being removed, but several nearly identical tweets were also posted. At the time of publication, many were still viewable to Twitter users. Web3 Security Alerts reported Adams had also been blocked from his accounts with MetaMask and Coinbase Wallet.

.@haydenzadams’ Twitter account has been hacked. Please do not click on any links. There is no giveaway, airdrop, or bounty. The Protocol has not been hacked or exploited.

We will let you know when the issue is resolved

— Uniswap Labs (@Uniswap) July 20, 2023

Related: $656M lost from crypto hacks, scams and rug pulls in H1 2023: Report

Bad actors utilizing social media platforms to try and con users out of crypto assets or fiat is nothing new, but those behind the firms have attempted to reduce the number and frequency of cons. Twitter executive chair Elon Musk announced on July 1 the platform would be temporarily limiting the number of posts users will be allowed to read daily in an effort to “detect and eliminate bots and other bad actors.”

On July 6, social media firm Meta launched Threads, a microblogging app expected to rival Twitter. Though the platform reached more than 100 million users in a matter of days, scammers promoting fake nonfungible token projects and impersonating other Crypto Twitter personalities have already appeared.

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