What exactly happened
The hackers, who gained control of McDonald’s Instagram account, posted a fraudulent message claiming that McDonald’s was giving away free cryptocurrency.The message included a link to a phishing website designed to steal users’ personal information and cryptocurrency wallet credentials.
Thousands of unsuspecting users fell victim to the scam, believing the message to be genuine. Many shared their personal information and cryptocurrency wallet details, leading to significant financial losses.
Image courtesy: New York Post
The alleged hacked post included a racial slur and claimed responsibility for a cryptocurrency scam. The message, which has since been removed, read: “Sorry mah n–ga you have just been rug pulled by India_X_Kr3w thank you for the $700,000 in Solana.”
What the company has said
McDonald’s said in a statement it was “aware of an isolated incident that impacted our social media accounts earlier today.”
“We have resolved the issue on those accounts and apologize to our fans for any offensive language posted during that time,” added McDonald’s.
What is a rug pull scam
A rug pull scam is a type of exit scam that occurs in the cryptocurrency and NFT markets. In this scheme, a team of developers creates a new cryptocurrency or NFT project, promotes it heavily to attract investors, and then suddenly abandons the project or disappears with the funds raised from investors. The term “rug pull” comes from the image of someone pulling a rug out from under someone else, leaving them off-balance and scrambling.