Hackers broke through the social media accounts of Robinhood, a prominent US online trading platform, to peddle a fraudulent coin. The fake token is called RBH on the Binance Smart Chain.
Wednesday, the account released a tweet announcing the debut of the suspicious coin on BSC, with an initial price of $0.005. An analysis of the token reveals that creator and tokenomics information are missing.
Other social media profiles of Robinhood were also targeted. According to a BSC analysis provided by internet inspector ZackXBT, the fraudsters were able to extract around $8,200 worth of BNB tokens.
Robinhood presumably hacked pic.twitter.com/UgRD3UCbo9
— db (@tier10k) January 25, 2023
Following the incident, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao disclosed on Twitter that the account in question had been suspended. The tweet was no longer visible on Robinhood’s account at the time of writing.
Hackers Believed To Be ‘Third-Party Vendors’
According to a Robinhood representative, the hacker had also posted on the platform’s Instagram and Facebook accounts.
Robinhood admitted:
“We’re aware of the unauthorized posts from Robinhood Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook profiles, which were all removed within minutes.”
The trading platform added that, based on their current investigation, they suspect a third-party vendor was responsible for the breach.
Conor Grogan, director of product business development at cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, revealed that about 10 people had bought about $1,000 worth of the fake coin RBH before the tweet was taken down.
The RBH cryptocurrency was offered by hackers for $0.0005 per unit, based on the hacker’s claim. Obviously, the BNB Chain-based coin is nothing more than a “honeypot” swindle.
Image: Cybernews
What Is Honeypot?
“Honeypot” is a word frequently employed by cyber security specialists. In other terms, it is an euphemism for something that is meant to entice someone; simply put, it is a trap.
In its most technical form, a honeypot is a computer system designed to attract cyberattacks, much like a bait. It imitates a target for hackers and utilises their infiltration efforts to learn about the infiltrators and their methods of operation, or to divert them from other targets.
Looks like Robinhood account got hacked and was promoting a coin on BNB Chain. Always have critical thinking even is the account looks or is real. https://t.co/XSwHIVdEdw
— CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) January 25, 2023
As a result, and in this case, after unsuspecting customers purchase RBH tokens, their owners would then be unable to sell or transfer them.
CZ remarked on the breach and encouraged the community to use caution and common sense while acquiring tokens, even if they appear entirely authentic.
Crypto total market cap at $1 trillion on the daily chart | Chart: TradingView.com
Twitter Hackers Target Billionaires
On July 15, 2020, hackers easily penetrated the defense perimeters of Twitter. They disguised themselves as Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and Warren Buffet, among others.
Former US President Barack Obama and then-Vice President Joe Biden also had their accounts compromised.
Cybersecurity Ventures anticipates that the worldwide cost of cybercrime would increase by 15% yearly over the next five years, exceeding $10 trillion annually by 2025, up from $3 trillion in 2015.
Featured image from Malwarebytes