Hackers claiming control over McDonald’s official Instagram account allegedly profited by deceiving investors with a fake cryptocurrency, netting approximately US$700,000 in illicit gains from unwitting traders.
Hackers recently targeted McDonald’s massive social media presence by touting a worthless cryptocurrency, branded as “GRIMACE”, to their 5.1 million-strong Instagram followers.
At roughly the same time, tweets from Guillaume Huin, McDonald’s head of social media, lent credibility to the peculiar cryptocurrency campaign. He sparked enthusiasm among investors by guaranteeing that purchasing the GRIMACE coin would grant them access to an official endorsement from McDonald’s, thereby amplifying its value and credibility.
Through a strategic combination of social media posts, the hackers successfully manipulated market sentiment to artificially inflate the value of the coin.
As chaos erupted, the pretend Grimace cryptocurrency skyrocketed from a standing start to a staggering US$25 million market value within mere minutes before plummeting as its anonymous backers vanished along with their ill-gotten gains.
In a final act of defiance, hackers gloated about escaping with approximately $700,000 by perpetrating a massive fraud.
The following day, Huin discovered that his Twitter account had been taken over by scammers, who had posted malicious messages in his name.
McDonald’s confirms it is collaborating with relevant authorities to investigate the security breach, with the goal of identifying those responsible. The company issued a formal apology for the insensitive language employed during the isolated incident.
We are aware of a recent issue affecting our social media platforms at present. We’ve successfully addressed the issue on those accounts and extend our sincerest apologies to our audience for any objectionable content shared during this period.
McDonald’s promptly deleted the offensive posts from its official Instagram account, minimizing the scope of harm.
