Twitter account of Indian prime minister suffers hack promising Bitcoin to country’s citizens
Photo: Unsplash
Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister, saw his Twitter account hacked on Sunday morning.
Despite the hack only lasting a short while, whoever hacked the account was able to tweet that India had adopted Bitcoin as a legal tender, and that the government had purchased 500 Bitcoin which would be distributed among Indians.
Why would someone hack PM @narendramodi’s account on #Bitcoin ? Sending a cryptic message for the draft bill on #cryptocurrecy ?
— Priyank Kharge / ಪ್ರಿಯಾಂಕ್ ಖರ್ಗೆ (@PriyankKharge) December 12, 2021
Anyway, this too was a lie, just like all his other promises.#Hacked pic.twitter.com/wVH8qP4bR7
Having deleted the original tweet, Modi’s account clarified that there was a hack and that his account had since been restored.
The hack came amid the Indian government’s ongoing consideration of how to regulate crypto, and while it is likely it was carried out by a pro-crypto person or group, such a move may harm their cause.The Twitter handle of PM @narendramodi was very briefly compromised. The matter was escalated to Twitter and the account has been immediately secured.
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) December 11, 2021
In the brief period that the account was compromised, any Tweet shared must be ignored.
It is not the first time a prominent twitter account has been taken over by hackers. Last year, the account of prime minister Modi’s relief fund was taken over and a tweet was published asking for donations to an account.
PM Modi going to Twitter's office after his Twitter hack pic.twitter.com/OAhSpQbnrC
— त्रि-Vines (@trilochann45) December 11, 2021