X uncovers crypto bribery ring linked to hacker group

X has uncovered and dismantled a bribery network run by suspended users and crypto scammers who allegedly paid “middlemen” to bribe employees in exchange for account ￰0￱ Friday, the social networking service confirmed that the scam was associated with bigger criminal groups. A number of those accounts were suspended for crypto scams and platform ￰1￱ company emphasized cooperating closely with law enforcement agencies in the ￰2￱ its announcement, the company noted that the scheme was uncovered with the help of blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, which enabled investigators to track the perpetrators. X added that the suspended accounts attempted to bribe staff at social networks and payment providers through middlemen to restore their ￰3￱ were not individuals “acting alone,” the company ￰4￱ are affiliated with groups filling multiple online spheres beyond X, including Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, Minecraft, and ￰5￱ methods typically include some form of crypto fraud, phishing, or other online ￰6￱ is monitoring hacker group ‘The Com’ The bribe circle is connected to a network of hackers called The Com , which the FBI has identified and is ￰7￱ agency said in July that The Com was a “growing and evolving online threat group” comprised largely of ￰8￱ FBI said the group had grown increasingly sophisticated in the past four ￰9￱ are believed to be using sophisticated techniques to hide their identities, obscure financial transactions, and launder ￰10￱ work ranges from cybercrime to fraud to trolling on online ￰11￱ isn’t new to cybercrime ￰12￱ May, United States authorities said hackers had sought to bribe Coinbase employees to help with an attack to gain access to confidential customer ￰13￱ overlap illustrates how insider threats and dollar signs can often subvert security ￰14￱ scams have beset X for years as the platform is an easy ￰15￱ Jack Dorsey still owned it in 2020, Twitter fell victim to one of its most severe ￰16￱ hijacked accounts of people and companies, including former President Barack Obama, Apple, Uber, and Kanye West, using them to post messages that urged people to send money to a Bitcoin ￰17￱ last year infiltrated several high-profile accounts to promote a Solana-based meme ￰18￱ the victims were Lenovo’s division in India, the film director Oliver Stone, and the Brazilian soccer player Neymar ￰19￱ cases highlight the ongoing scourge of crypto fraud on major social ￰20￱ use more ingenious schemes, taking on insider conspiracy, bribery, and cross-platform operation methods instead of straightforward ￰21￱ networks exploit corruption to evade bans The exposure of the bribery network highlights two urgent concerns: the vulnerability of insiders to corruption and the growing sophistication of organized ￰22￱ scammers to buy their way back onto platforms undermines trust in content moderation and threatens overall platform ￰23￱ is also a sign that online con artists are diversifying their ￰24￱ are no longer simply scamming from ￰25￱ are actively working to undermine the system from the inside.

X has committed to improving internal controls and increasing protections against insider ￰26￱ company said it would work with law enforcement to continue prosecuting those ￰27￱ the same time, US authorities hope to intensify pressure on groups like The Com, which are now viewed as a combative force putting digital security at ￰28￱ investigation remains open, and more arrests or indictments could ￰29￱ social media and crypto deeply intertwined, experts warn that we can expect to see more of these schemes unless platforms batten down the hatches and their employees have a stronger defense against bribery ￰30￱ Difference Wire helps crypto brands break through and dominate headlines fast