The latest of the ever-growing Twitter scams has hit the crypto sphere, with its victim being Vertcoin, a digital currency, with a significant emphasis on decentralization. The Vertcoin account that has the coveted blue tick and thus is officially verified, posted a message that read as follows:

Hey, everyone! Vertcoin and staff are pleased to announce that we’re doing a 10 BTC giveaway to our followers to celebrate Vertcoin’s success. Send 0.005 to 3HU5sj7kB6wT9zRwpbhCRrR28vKWjfkMKf enter! Winner will be announced 5/3/18 at 8pm EST.

— Vertcoin (@Vertcoin) May 1, 2018

Given the fact that similar scams have been tormenting crypto Twitter for quite some time, it quickly raised suspicion. James Lovejoy, lead developer at Vertcoin, immediately confirmed that the official account was compromised and urged the followers not to accept any giveaways, as they all are fake.

The scammer’s bitcoin address had received a single transaction of 0.005 BTC, making it likely that one unsuspecting user has been relieved of $61 worth of bitcoin. As of press time, the tweet has been removed, although it remains to be seen whether the hijackers sent any private messages from the account.

This type of scam has become a regular feature of crypto Twitter, as fraudsters have recently grown fond of impersonating official accounts of well-known players within the crypto sphere. Such posts are often supplemented by comments below the original post by people who have “successfully” received the funds, promised in the fake giveaway. Although, as an increasing number of such scams is publicized, the users are generally becoming more aware and cautious. News of the fake giveaway reached the front page of r/Vertcoin in minutes, alerting users of the scam.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has claimed the company is dedicating a significant portion of their resources to combat similar issues but so far their efforts seem to be in vain. The scammers have recently imitated Litecoin founder Charlie Lee, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin, the official Verge account among others.

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