Taking a look at Jase Robertson and David Dayen, you would not suppose the 2 of them have a lot in frequent. Robertson is thought for his time on the A&E actuality TV present Duck Dynasty. He at present hosts a present on the conservative digital outlet TheBlaze. David Dayen is a longtime progressive journalist and govt editor for The American Prospect journal.
Nonetheless, over the previous few weeks, tweets from each Robertson’s and Dayen’s Twitter accounts have been sharing the very same messaging.
A tweet from Jase Robertson’s hacked Twitter account.
Credit score: robotechcompany.com Screenshot
“Howdy twitter household !” begins the tweets posted to each accounts. “I’ve 10 MacBooks that I’ll personally signal myself , which you could buy for $600 and free Delivery ! First come first serve foundation , and all proceeds will likely be going to charity ! MY DMS ARE OPENED IF INTERESTED”
Included in every account’s tweets is the very same picture of a MacBook Professional sitting on wooden flooring. What is going on on right here? Have Dayen and Robertson put their political variations apart and begin an Apple reselling enterprise?
No. They have been hacked, together with a slew of different legacy verified accounts on the social media platform. And, Twitter has been silent on the matter.
Regardless that a few of these accounts have been hacked for weeks now, Twitter has not suspended the accounts, permitting the hackers to rip-off customers of hundreds of {dollars}, if no more.
A tweet from David Dayen’s hacked Twitter account.
Credit score: robotechcompany.com Screenshot
Dayen tells robotechcompany.com that he was initially hacked final summer season after clicking on a malicious hyperlink which offered unhealthy actors with entry to his account. He says his account was shortly suspended by Twitter then, effectively earlier than Elon Musk acquired the corporate. When he regained entry a few month later, Dayen shortly activated two-factor authentication on his account. Enacting this safety measure ought to’ve made one other hack extraordinarily troublesome to hold out.
Nonetheless, right here the @ddayen Twitter account is, simply 6 months later, hacked and scamming the platform’s customers.
Followers are falling for the scams
robotechcompany.com heard from not less than one in all Dayen’s followers who acquired scammed after seeing Dayen’s tweets. This individual noticed a tweet from a consumer they trusted and, not realizing Dayen was hacked, fell for the scheme in a second of desperation.
“I fell for it,” the Twitter consumer instructed robotechcompany.com. “I desperately want a pc.”
One other tweet from David Dayen’s hacked Twitter account.
Credit score: robotechcompany.com Screenshot
This individual shared the non-public DM dialog between themself and the individual operating the hacked @ddayen account. Additionally they offered screenshots of the $1,500 transaction that they made to the scammer, which included funds from relations who additionally wished to buy a MacBook. The scammer required that they paid through Zelle, Cashapp, or Apple Pay – all peer-to-peer fee companies that always do not present refunds to customers who’re scammed.
Dayen tells robotechcompany.com that he is filed two help tickets with Twitter since he was hacked on March 12. He additionally despatched replies to Twitter’s auto-reply asking for extra info. As well as, he has tweeted publicly at Twitter’s official help account, @TwitterSupport. His account stays each hacked and lively, the scammer’s tweets seen to all of Twitter.
Tweet might have been deleted
(opens in a brand new tab)
(Opens in a brand new tab)
“Wonderful that @twittersupport hasn’t not less than locked @ddayen after I reported the hack together with dozens of different individuals,” Dayen tweeted(Opens in a brand new tab) from his backup account, @david_dayen.
This isn’t an remoted incident
Duck Dynasty‘s Robertson was hacked even earlier, with the sooner rip-off tweet seen on his account’s feed showing on March 2. Robertson introduced he was hacked to his followers on a March 5 episode(Opens in a brand new tab) of his podcast.
Winnie Wong, a former senior political advisor to Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential marketing campaign, was additionally hacked by these scammers. Though, they look like attempting one thing completely different together with her account.
Wong tells robotechcompany.com that when she was first hacked and booted from her @WaywardWinifred account on March 13, the scammers initially began to publish about the identical MacBook rip-off. However then, after she began(Opens in a brand new tab) tweeting(Opens in a brand new tab) about her and Dayen being hacked from her different high-profile Twitter account, @People4Bernie, the scammers blocked her account from viewing tweets from the hacked accounts. Then, the scammers modified her Twitter profile and header with a view to make the account appear like an official Twitter profile.
Tweet might have been deleted
(opens in a brand new tab)
(Opens in a brand new tab)
Tweet might have been deleted
(opens in a brand new tab)
(Opens in a brand new tab)
The hacked @WaywardWinifred account then started(Opens in a brand new tab) to privately DM Wong’s contacts – together with politicians and different influential customers – pretending to be a member of Twitter’s help. The DMs knowledgeable the consumer that they broke Twitter’s insurance policies and wanted to fill out a type at a web site “security-twitter.com/resetpassword,” a phishing web site setup by the scammer to appear like a Twitter web page with a view to trick the consumer into sharing their password to allow them to take over the account.
Tweet might have been deleted
(opens in a brand new tab)
(Opens in a brand new tab)
The phishing web site at present forwards to an Instagram account @morcegoen(Opens in a brand new tab), which seems to be related to the scammer. A single picture(Opens in a brand new tab) on @morcegoen’s web page has feedback from verified Instagram customers like actor John Cusack. Cusack himself had his Instagram account hacked on the time this account was made. Cusack’s Instagram account posted pictures of MacBooks whereas it was hacked, together with the identical “10 MacBooks” on the market textual content.
The identical scammer hit different high-profile Twitter accounts earlier this 12 months too. Actress Anya Taylor Pleasure(Opens in a brand new tab)‘s Twitter account was hacked and began tweeting out the MacBook rip-off in January. Actor Jonathan Frakes(Opens in a brand new tab)‘ account began doing the identical in late December of final 12 months too. Nonetheless, each Pleasure’s and Frakes’ account has been restored to its rightful proprietor since then.
A January tweet from Anya Taylor Pleasure’s hacked Twitter account.
Credit score: robotechcompany.com Screenshot
Up to now, all high-profile accounts which were hacked are legacy verified accounts, which means they have been verified earlier than Musk took over the platform and allowed customers to buy a Twitter Blue verified checkmark for $8 per thirty days.
Twitter’s inaction on the matter is an issue. As Wong tells me, her concern is not a lot that she will be able to’t entry her account, it is that the accounts haven’t but been suspended. This makes it doable for the hacker to proceed to rip-off her followers in addition to different Twitter customers. She factors out that the difficulty with the accounts that have been stolen earlier this 12 months, similar to Anya Taylor Pleasure’s, have been resolved at a time when Twitter had a bigger workforce. Since these hacks earlier this 12 months, Twitter has gone underneath extra rounds of layoffs.
Twitter couldn’t be reached for remark by robotechcompany.com as the corporate now not has a communications division underneath Musk.
