UK minister Lucy Powell’s X account was hacked to promote a fraudulent cryptocurrency called ‘House of Commons Coin (US$HCC)’. Immediate steps were taken to reclaim the account. The scam generated some profit through transactions, highlighting a broader trend of impersonating public figures in crypto scams. Similar incidents have occurred with other international leaders.
On April 16, the X account of UK minister Lucy Powell was compromised, leading to the promotion of a fictitious cryptocurrency called “House of Commons Coin (US$HCC).” Her spokesperson confirmed that her personal account was hacked, prompting immediate measures to recover it and eliminate deceptive content.
The verified account, which has nearly 70,000 followers, was exploited to disseminate messages about the fraudulent coin. The scammers aim to artificially inflate the cryptocurrency’s value before profiting from it, often causing a subsequent decline in value.
Following the hack, US$HCC experienced approximately 34 transactions, yielding around US$260 in profit, as reported by CoinShares. Benoit Pellevoizin from CoinShares noted that media attention has increased the coin’s visibility, with total transaction volume rising from US$7,000 to US$55,000 shortly after the incident.
This incident is not isolated; cybercriminals routinely impersonate public officials by hijacking their social media accounts to advertise scams. Recently, Ghana’s President John Mahama was similarly targeted, with his X account promoting the fraudulent initiative “Solana Africa.”
Notably, the credibility of such scams is magnified by historical endorsements of cryptocurrencies by prominent figures, including Donald Trump and Argentina’s President Javier Milei, which have resulted in significant financial losses for unsuspecting investors.
