- PancakeSwap recently warned users that hackers took over its Chinese social media account on X.
- It advised people against interacting with the account’s post or clicking links there until it has officially confirmed its full recovery.
The Chinese social media account of PancakeSwap (CAKE) on X (formerly Twitter) with the handle @PancakeSwapzh has been compromised. The main social media platform of the decentralized exchange (DEX) with the handle @PancakeSwap confirmed this at Wednesday midnight (UTC).
PancakeSwap warned people against interacting with the posts or clicking links on the compromised account. The group stated that its team is already investigating the issue and working with the X team to resolve the matter.
Additionally, PancakeSwap advised people to wait for official announcements from its official account for confirmation of its Chinese account’s recovery. It recommended everyone to stay vigilant and trust only its official account, @PancakeSwap.
The PancakeSwap hacker used the opportunity to promote a shady memecoin called “Mr. Pancake.” It’s still unclear how many people fell for the scam, but some commenters on PancakeSwap’s announcement claimed the fraudulent post deceived them, which led to them losing funds. Some urged PancakeSwap to help them recover their investment or at least provide support for the memecoin in some capacity.
Meanwhile, others were none too pleased at the carelessness of the PancakeSwap team. This is considering the fact that it is running the largest project on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC).
PancakeSwap’s team has already removed the fraudulent posts on its Chinese account, but has yet to release an official confirmation of the compromised channel’s complete recovery. Moreover, the group ensured that it is currently strengthening its security and verification protocols to prevent similar incidents in the future.
PancakeSwap assured the crypto community that the hack only happened on its Chinese account on X. It said the hacker didn’t have access to any of its users’ funds or platform assets.
Amid the frenzy, PancakeSwap’s native token CAKE’s price remained unfazed. As of noon (UTC), hours after the platform’s announcement, the asset rose by around 12% from a $4.06 low to a $4.55 high intraday based on Coingecko data.
Final Thoughts
The compromise of PancakeSwap’s Chinese X account underscores the continuous efforts of malicious actors to bypass the blockchain’s decentralized and secure rails by directly targeting people interacting with it to exploit human vulnerability. Although the DEX has yet to reveal how the hacker gained access to its social media platform, the play often involves social engineering techniques.
Social engineering covers a broad range of malicious activities that combine casual human interactions with psychological manipulation to trick potential victims into lowering their guard, leading to security flaws and voluntarily providing sensitive information to fraudsters or hackers.
What’s your Reaction?
+1
1
+1
0
+1
0
+1
0
+1
0
+1
0
+1
0
