The attackers made $3 million in 30 minutes.
In a shocking turn of events, renowned rapper Curtis James Jackson III, better known as 50 Cent, reported that his social media account on X (formerly known as Twitter) and website were compromised by hackers. The attackers allegedly exploited his massive online following, estimated at 12.9 million fans, to perpetrate a cryptocurrency scam.
“My Twitter and Thisis50.com were hacked. I have no association with this crypto. Twitter worked quickly to lock my account back down. Whoever did this made $3,000,000 in 30 minutes,” the rapper, 48, wrote on his Instagram late Friday.
It was a ‘rug pull,’ a scam where developers abandon their project and abscond with investors’ funds, leaving the investors with worthless assets and significant financial losses.
The Instagram post included screenshots of the “$GUNIT” memecoin, which started at under $1 million in market value and quickly shot up.
50 Cent has since regained control of his accounts and has publicly denounced any association with the GUNIT token.