By Satnam Narang, Sr. Staff Research Engineer at Tenable

“It’s a lot more common to see verified Twitter accounts hacked to promote cryptocurrency giveaways through impersonations of individuals like Elon Musk and his associated companies. So seeing Imran Khan’s Instagram account hacked and used to post a screenshot of a fake tweet from Musk goes to show that even on alternative platforms like Instagram, Musk’s brand, his interest in cryptocurrencies and status as the richest man in the world remains a valuable lure in a scammer’s toolbox to take advantage of unsuspecting users interested in cryptocurrencies.

The website mentioned in the screenshots will take users to a page promising users to double their cryptocurrency, also known as advanced fee fraud. Users are asked to send a small portion of cryptocurrency upfront, anywhere from 0.1 Bitcoin to 10 Bitcoin in order to double it from anywhere between 0.2 Bitcoin up to 20 Bitcoin or more.

Unfortunately for users, they won’t receive anything in return. Unlike traditional finance, where users have some type of recourse to recover funds from a centralized authority, there is no way for them to recover their stolen cryptocurrency, which is why scammers have pivoted towards more cryptocurrency focused scams. No matter who posts about the possibility of doubling your cryptocurrency, be it a verified celebrity or political figure or a person with a large following on social media, just know that if it sounds too good to be true, it is.”