Litecoin X account hacked to promote fake Solana LTC token

Key Takeaways

Litecoin's X account was hacked to promote a fake Solana-based token with the same LTC ticker.
Hackers are increasingly using targeted phishing emails disguised as X team communications to steal user credentials.

The official X account of Litecoin appeared to have been compromised earlier today, according to several reports from members of the crypto community. The hacker used it to promote a fake Solana-based token sharing the same LTC ticker as the legitimate digital asset.

Did @litecoin just draw rug everyone???? pic.twitter.com/YNlE4TszOl

— Alpha Bets 👑 (@Alpha69Bets) January 11, 2025

The unauthorized mail, which included Solana's contract address for the fake Litecoin token, briefly boosted the scam token's market capitalization to $27,000 before falling to $3,400, according to DEX Screener. The tweet was later removed.

“Be careful (about) any tweets coming from this account until the team confirms they have regained full access to the account,” he warned a user.

In a recent statement, Litecoin confirmed that its account was hacked and that investigations are still ongoing. The team said they found and removed a dedicated account targeted by the hacker.

Litecoin's X account was briefly hacked today and unauthorized positions were revealed. These only lived for a few seconds before they were taken away. We are still investigating the matter, but we immediately discovered a compromised account and removed it…

– Litecoin (@litecoin) January 11, 2025

The event follows a pattern of social media account compromise targeting high-profile crypto projects and individuals. In December, similar attacks hit the Cardano Foundation's X account, which was used to spread false information about a non-existent SEC lawsuit and to promote a fake token associated with Solana.

Blockchain researcher ZachXBT, between late November and December, reported one threat actor has raised about $500,000 through coin meme scams launched through the involvement of more than 15 X accounts, including Kick, Cursor, Alex Blania, The Arena, and Brett.

The auditor also identified a common attack vector where hackers send phishing emails disguised as team X communications about copyright infringement, trying to trick users into visiting fake sites to reset their two-factor authentication and passwords.