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OpenAI’s official press account on X has become the latest victim of cryptocurrency scammers, posting about a non-existent blockchain token called ‘$OPENAI.’ The hack mirrors earlier breaches involving accounts of senior OpenAI leadership, raising concerns about ongoing security vulnerabilities within the tech giant’s online presence.
Late Monday, the newly established OpenAI Newsroom account, designed to share official product and policy updates, posted a message announcing the launch of ‘$OPENAI,’ claiming it to be a revolutionary token bridging artificial intelligence and blockchain.
The post declared that all OpenAI users could claim part of the token’s initial supply, promising exclusive access to future beta programs for those who held the tokens. However, ‘$OPENAI’ does not exist.
The scam went further by directing users to a phishing website, ‘token-openai.com,’ designed to mimic OpenAI’s legitimate platform. A prominent ‘CLAIM $OPENAI’ button encouraged users to connect their cryptocurrency wallets, likely intending to steal login credentials and other sensitive information.
When this report was written, OpenAI Newsroom regained control of their X account, and you’ll a warning sign on the phishing website.
This incident echoes previous security breaches at OpenAI. In June 2023, the account of CTO Mira Murati was similarly compromised, promoting the same ‘$OPENAI’ scam. More recently, as TechCrunch reports, the accounts of OpenAI’s chief scientist Jakub Pachocki and researcher Jason Wei were also hacked, publishing identical scam messages.
This latest breach of OpenAI’s account follows a growing trend of high-profile X accounts being compromised to push cryptocurrency scams. In 2020, Apple, Elon Musk, and Joe Biden’s accounts were hacked to promote a Bitcoin scam.
Social media is a great way to lure unsuspecting victims. In January 2024, cybersecurity firm Mandiant’s X account was hacked to promote a crypto scam.
In June, the official account of Microsoft India, with over 200,000 followers and a gold verification checkmark, was hacked by crypto scammers to run scams.
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