A major incident in the cryptocurrency world: an unknown attacker gained access to the X accounts of Elon Musk's companies — @SpaceXAI (2 million followers) and @Starlink (1.6 million followers). Using the compromised profiles, the hacker launched a massive advertising campaign for the memecoin $SCATMAN. The scheme is classic: after artificially inflating the token's price, the attacker instantly dumped all their holdings, netting approximately $125,000 in ETH.
How did the attack unfold?
Initially, promotional messages were published under the name of the character Sam Catman with a gold verification checkmark. These posts were then reposted from the hacked SpaceXAI and Starlink pages. The accounts' audience — tens of thousands of views, likes, and reposts — ensured an instant surge for the $SCATMAN token.
The token was traded in the SCATMAN/WETH pair on Uniswap V2. A chart from dexscreener.com shows a sharp vertical price increase followed by a 98.38% crash within 24 hours. Key metrics at the time of recording: liquidity — $3,900, market capitalization — ~$1.4 million, total trading volume — $5.7 million, total number of transactions — ~45,000.
Where did the money go?
The hacker extracted the main profit in two stages. First, 10 trillion SCATMAN was deposited into their wallet via the rebalance function. Then, this entire volume was sold in a single transaction on Uniswap V2, yielding 59.0856 ETH (~$108,366). Simultaneously, a second controlled wallet sold 59,276,870 SCATMAN, bringing in another 14.7296 ETH (~$27,000). In total, the withdrawal amount was approximately $125,000. Notably, gas fees for all operations remained symbolic — less than $0.01 per transaction.
Analytical comment: This incident is a stark reminder that even large, verified social media accounts are not immune to hacking. For the crypto community, it is a signal to increase vigilance: any advertising campaigns, especially those promising quick profits, should be verified through independent sources. Given that the attacker has already withdrawn the funds, recovery is virtually impossible. The market has once again seen how trust in a brand can be exploited for manipulation.