An unknown attacker gained access to the X accounts of Elon Musk's projects — @SpaceXAI (2 million subscribers) and @Starlink (1.6 million subscribers). Using their audience, the hacker launched an advertising campaign for the $SCATMAN token, followed by a classic pump and dump. Within a few hours, the manipulation netted him approximately $125,000 in ETH.
Analysts detected the attack by tracking the movement of funds across the attacker's wallets. The entire timeline was reconstructed in detail. The attacker first posted messages from the character Sam Catman with a verified gold checkmark, then reposted them from the hacked SpaceXAI and Starlink pages. The posts instantly garnered tens of thousands of views, hundreds of likes, and reposts.
How the Attack Unfolded
The token was traded in the SCATMAN/WETH pair on Uniswap V2. The chart shows a classic pump and dump pattern: the price skyrocketed almost vertically, then instantly crashed. Over 24 hours, the quotes fell by 98.38%. Key metrics at the time of recording: liquidity — $3,900, market capitalization — ~$1.4 million, fully diluted valuation (FDV) — ~$1.4 million, total trading volume — $5.7 million, total number of transactions — ~45,000.
Where the Money Went
The hacker extracted the main profit in two stages. First, 10 trillion SCATMAN were transferred to his wallet via the rebalance function. Then, this entire volume was sold in a single transaction on Uniswap V2, yielding 59.0856 ETH (~$108,366 at the time). Simultaneously, a second controlled wallet sold 59,276,870 SCATMAN, receiving 14.7296 ETH (~$27,000). In total, the attacker withdrew approximately $125,000. Notably, gas fees remained symbolic — less than $0.01 per transaction.
Expert Opinion: This incident is a stark reminder that even large corporate accounts are vulnerable to social engineering and phishing. The memecoin market remains a breeding ground for fraudulent schemes, where the main asset is audience trust, not the token's fundamental value. Investors should exercise extreme caution, especially when advertising comes from unexpected sources.