India’s Prime Minister Twitter Account Hacked by ‘John Wick’ Cyber Gang

India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi is the newest world leader to suffer a cyber attack, after a Twitter account affiliated to his exclusive website got hacked. The cyber criminals used the compromised Twitter account to ask for crypto funds. Twitter verified the alleged cyber attack and has since pulled down all the tweets seeking to steal crypto assets from unsuspecting victims..

Notably, Modi’s official Twitter account, with a total of 61.8 million followers, was not breached. The compromised account is linked to the PM’s private website and has 2.5 million followers currently. The social media giants have since pulled down the tweets shared by the hackers asking for cryptocurrency contributions for COVID-19 relief.

India’s Prime Minister hacked for crypto

Similar to the recent high profile Twitter hack, the cyber gang included at least two crypto wallet addresses to receive the donations. However, blockchain data suggests that no funds were transferred to either of the two addresses. The social media giants confirmed the hack to Gadget 360, and stated it had taken the necessary security measures to safeguard the account. 

Moreover, a cyber gang by the name ‘John Wick’ claimed responsibility for the attack on the Indian prime Minister’s  Twitter account. The gang also shared their email address and plainly noted they are not responsible for hacking  Paytm Mall. A certain account claiming to represent ‘John Wick’ had claimed breaching Paytm Mall on a Russian forum. Nevertheless, Paytm has since declined any information jeopardized during the hack.

Hackers targeting influential individuals’ Twitter accounts

Moving forward, India’s Prime Minister is not the only public figure and leader to have his Twitter account compromised for crypto donations. About two months ago, more than 100 Twitter accounts belonging to high-profile individuals such as Former U.S. President Barack Obama, VP Joe Biden were compromised to promote a fake BTC giveaway scam.

Nonetheless, authorities have since then nabbed a 17 year-old teenager alongside two other  suspects in connection to the massive Twitter hack.