Rapper and singer Doja Cat fell victim to a hacking incident on July 8 when her X account was compromised. The hackers used this opportunity to promote a fraudulent token called Doja Cat (DOJA) to her 5.6 million followers. They posted a message urging people to buy $DOJA and provided a Solana address for transactions, through which they managed to collect funds from unsuspecting victims.
As a result of the scam, the market cap of DOJA skyrocketed to $1.65 million within an hour of the post being shared. However, the value of the coin later plummeted to $16,820, causing investors to suffer collective losses of approximately $1.63 million. Doja Cat took to Instagram to inform her followers that her Twitter account had been hacked, disavowing the messages that were sent out.
This incident is part of a trend where cybercriminals hack into celebrity accounts to promote scam tokens. By leveraging the fame and influence of these individuals, hackers can quickly amass large sums of money before disappearing with the funds, leaving investors with worthless tokens. Similar attacks have been carried out on other celebrities, such as Hulk Hogan, whose account was recently hacked for the same purpose.
In addition to promoting the fraudulent token, the hackers behind the Doja Cat incident also targeted rapper Iggy Azalea in a derogatory manner in a now-deleted post. While this caused some controversy in the hip-hop community, the situation calmed down once it was revealed that Doja Cat’s account had been compromised.
It is worth noting that the choice of Solana-based tokens for these scams is a common thread among many of these fraudulent projects. This preference may stem from the network’s popularity and perceived security vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit. The attack on Doja Cat’s account may have been aimed at capitalizing on the success of Azalea’s legitimate token project, MOTHER, which gained significant attention in June.
Overall, this incident serves as a reminder of the risks associated with investing in cryptocurrencies and celebrity-backed tokens. It highlights the importance of staying vigilant and conducting thorough research before participating in any investment opportunities, especially those promoted on social media platforms. By being cautious and informed, individuals can better protect themselves from falling victim to similar scams in the future.