On Tuesday, British Cabinet minister Lucy Powell’s official X (formerly Twitter) account was hacked to promote a fake cryptocurrency called “House of Commons Coin” ($HCC).
The posts described it as a community-run digital currency that promised “transparency, participation, and trust.” These scam posts also used the official House of Commons logo to make it look more convincing.
Powell, who is the leader of the House of Commons and has around 70,000 followers, had the misleading posts deleted quickly after her team secured the account. Her role involves managing government law-making and supporting other MPs in Parliament.
Cybercriminals often hack well-known accounts to promote scam cryptocurrencies. They typically do it by deceiving people with sham emails or hijacked passwords from data breaches.
Once they gain control, they put out information about fictitious coins in an attempt to get people to invest. These schemes most often take the “pump and dump” approach, pumping up the value of the coin and subsequently selling it off rapidly by the scammers, while the investors find themselves with worthless tokens.
According to CoinShares researcher Luke Nolan, there were only 34 transactions involving $HCC, earning the scammers just £225. Despite the low profits, this shows how quickly and easily such scams can be set up.
The U.K. Parliament said it takes cybersecurity seriously and offers advice to members. Action Fraud also reported an increase in compromised social and email accounts in 2024, and it advises using strong, separate passwords and turning on two-step verification for added security.
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