A verified X account (formerly Twitter) belonging to British MP Lucy Powell, the Leader of the House of Commons, was hacked on Tuesday morning and used to promote a fraudulent cryptocurrency dubbed the “House of Commons Coin ($HCC)”, her spokesperson confirmed.
“Lucy Powell’s personal X account was hacked this morning,” the spokesperson told AFP. “Steps were taken quickly to secure the account and remove misleading posts.”
The compromised account, which has nearly 70,000 followers, was briefly used to promote what appeared to be a cryptocurrency associated with the UK Parliament’s lower house, falsely giving it a sense of official legitimacy.
🚨 Hackers Promote Bogus $HCC Coin for Quick Profits
According to CoinShares, a digital asset management firm, the hackers initiated around 34 transactions involving the $HCC token shortly after the hack. The scam netted them an estimated $260 in profit, with the total transaction volume rising sharply to $55,000, up from $7,000 earlier in the day.
“It seems that the media coverage has allowed this cryptocurrency to gain a little more traction,” said Benoit Pellevoizin of CoinShares.
The strategy behind such scams is known as a “pump-and-dump” scheme—artificially inflating the price of a coin through deceptive promotion before cashing out and crashing its value, leaving unsuspecting buyers at a loss.
🌐 Growing Trend: Hacking Public Figures for Crypto Fraud
This is not the first time high-profile accounts have been hijacked to spread crypto scams. Last month, Ghanaian President John Mahama’s X account was hacked for 48 hours, during which it promoted a fake digital asset called “Solana Africa”, falsely linked to the president.
The rise of crypto endorsements by major figures—including Donald Trump and Argentine President Javier Milei, who have supported legitimate crypto ventures—has made it harder for the public to differentiate between real and fake promotions.
These incidents highlight the urgent need for enhanced cybersecurity for public figures and tighter regulation around crypto-related promotions on social media.
