Cryptocurrency owners lost more than $ 700,000 due to fake McDonald’s digital token

Cybercriminals hacked the official Instagram account of McDonald’s and promoted a fake cryptocurrency token through it. The attackers took advantage of the trust of 5 million followers to advertise the fraudulent GRIMACE coin on the Solana blockchain.

The token’s value skyrocketed to $ 25 million, but then plummeted to almost zero. Hackers from the India X Kr3w group changed McDonald’s Instagram profile and openly boasted of stealing $ 700,000.

The fraudsters also hacked the accounts of McDonald’s senior marketing director Guillaume Huang. They used his profiles to spread fake ads claiming that GRIMACE was an official McDonald’s project on the Solana blockchain.

Despite the obvious signs of fraud, many users bought the GRIMACE token anyway. The trading volume reached $ 25 million in a day. McDonald’s has already regained control of its Instagram account and deleted all posts about the fake token. However, this attack demonstrates the growing risks in the cryptocurrency market.

According to Immunefi, in the first 7 months of 2024 alone, the cryptocurrency sector lost more than $ 1.19 billion due to hacking and fraud. This is much more than last year. Experts advise users to be careful with cryptocurrency projects, especially those that promise quick profits. It is worth checking the information carefully and not falling for fraudsters' manipulations.