OpenAI’s Official X Account Was Hacked by Crypto Scammers

In a concerning development for the artificial intelligence community, OpenAI’s official news account on the social media platform X fell victim to a cryptocurrency scam on Monday evening.

The account, @OpenAINewsroom, which boasts nearly 54,000 followers and is typically used to disseminate company updates, was compromised and used to promote a fraudulent cryptocurrency token.

The now-deleted post advertised an “$OPENAI” token, falsely claiming it would “bridge the gap between AI and blockchain technology.” The deceptive message said that all OpenAI users were eligible to claim a portion of the token’s initial supply and that holding the token would grant access to future beta programs.

To lend credibility to the scam, the post included a link to a website masquerading as OpenAI’s official page. However, the URL was not the legitimate openai.com, raising red flags for more vigilant users.

Clicking the link would take you to a fake version of the official OpenAI homepage. It had a button that let you claim the $OPENAI cryptocurrency, which would ask you to link your wallet to the fake website. Users are highly advised against connecting their wallets to such websites or services.

Both OpenAI and the social media platform have remained silent on the matter. The @OpenAINewsroom account, compromised in the incident, has yet to address the situation publicly. No explanatory posts or statements regarding the apparent security breach have been made as of this writing.

It’s worth noting that the affected account is relatively new to the platform, having been launched at the beginning of this month.