- UK Commons Leader Lucy Powell‘s X account was hacked to promote a fake House of Commons cryptocurrency scam.
- The Hacker used official House of Commons imagery and the Cabinet Minister’s verified profile to lend credibility to the fraudulent crypto scheme.
- Cybersecurity experts identified this as a “pump and dump” scheme that only managed to generate around £225 before being shut down.
Lucy Powell, the Commons Leader, fell victim to Hackers who commandeered her X (formerly Twitter) account on Tuesday to promote a fraudulent cryptocurrency. The hackers used her verified profile to publish multiple posts advertising a fake “House of Commons cryptocoin” before the content was swiftly removed.
The unauthorized posts featured the House of Commons portcullis logo alongside slogans promising “Transparency, participation, trust” and claimed to be “bringing people’s power to the blockchain.” A spokesperson for Powell confirmed: “Lucy Powell’s personal X account was hacked this morning. Steps were taken quickly to secure the account and remove misleading posts.”
Anatomy of a Crypto Scam
This incident mirrors a similar hack that targeted BBC politics presenter Laura Kuenssberg in January, when her account was compromised to promote a fictitious BBC cryptocurrency. The House of Commons has officially confirmed no such cryptocurrency exists.
Luke Nolan, a senior research associate at CoinShares, identified the scam as a classic “pump and dump” operation. He explained that in such schemes, creators artificially inflate a cryptocurrency’s value, attract investors, then sell their majority stake for profit while leaving others with worthless tokens.
Analysis of the transactions showed limited success for the scammers. “It appears that the tweet got deleted quite quickly, which meant that the deployer did not really get a chance to extract that much from people who might have invested in the coin,” Nolan stated. With only 34 transactions recorded, the perpetrators netted approximately £225 ($300).
Parliament’s Cybersecurity Response
A House of Commons spokesperson addressed the incident without commenting on specific security protocols: “UK Parliament takes cyber security extremely seriously. We provide advice to users – including Members – to make them aware of the risks and how to manage their digital safety; however, we do not comment on specific details of our cyber security policies.”
The rapid response to secure Powell’s account likely prevented more significant financial losses for potential victims who might have been deceived by the apparent endorsement from a Cabinet Minister. The incident highlights continuing vulnerabilities of public figures on social media platforms, even those with verified accounts.
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