In brief
- PancakeSwap’s Chinese X account was hacked to promote a scam meme coin token.
- CAKE token’s price remains largely unaffected.
- Security experts noted weak user security awareness and phishing as key reasons.
The official Chinese X account of decentralized exchange PancakeSwap was hacked on Tuesday, used to promote a fraudulent meme coin named “Mr. Pancake.”
Despite the security breach, the platform’s native token, CAKE, remains up 6.4% over the past 24 hours after reaching an intraday high of $4.50. It has since cooled to $4.30 according to CoinGecko data.
The official account posted an update stating that they are “actively working with the X team to resolve the issue,” while their earlier tweet warned users not to click any links from the compromised account.
The incident highlights a persistent vulnerability for major crypto projects and their social media accounts, with Binance-related projects becoming a target.
Last week, BNB Chain’s X account was compromised, Decrypt previously reported, prompting Binance co-founder CZ to warn users.
“The BNB meme coin market is very hot these days,” Shān Zhang, chief information security officer at blockchain security firm Slowmist, told Decrypt, making the ecosystem a lucrative target for scammers seeking to exploit its user base.
A key reason these attacks are so frequent is that “social media accounts are easily hacked because many controllers have weak security awareness and are susceptible to phishing attacks,” Zhang explained.
This human vulnerability is the critical weakness. Alex Katz, CEO of cybersecurity firm Kerberus, told Decrypt
“People are easy to target. This is why so many of them get compromised regularly, from an employee managing a company’s social media to a SAFE developer,” he added.
The tactics used by attackers are also becoming more sophisticated. “We have, over the last year, seen a 60% increase in incidents where this sort of AI-related phishing or scams where AI deepfake technology has been used,” Slava Demchuk, a cybersecurity expert and CEO of blockchain analytics firm AMLBot, told Decrypt.
He warned that technology is becoming widely accessible. “Fraudsters are actively marketing real-time AI deepfake face spoofing, which is peddled in Telegram rooms and dark markets,” he added, warning that “this kind of tech is already within reach for even beginner scammers.”
To prevent future incidents, experts advise a disciplined, multi-layered approach.
Zhang’s key recommendations included strengthening security by enabling two-factor authentication and using strong, unique passwords, while simultaneously improving user awareness to avoid sharing credentials or reusing passwords across platforms.
Katz, however, emphasized that the onus is on companies to enforce these protocols.
“Companies should ensure that basic security measures are the norm,” he stated, specifically recommending 2FA without a linked phone number to prevent SIM-swapping attacks.
Decrypt reached out to PancakeSwap and Binance for official comment and will update the story accordingly.
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