Tesco Twitter account hacked to promote Bitcoin scam and obtain victims’ personal details

• The hacked Tesco account promoted a Bitcoin cryptocurrency scam, asking Tesco followers to send bitcoins to a wallet and promising to send back twice the value.
• The attacker behind the hack also changed Tesco's profile name to Bill Gates (@Billgatesmsc) and added Bill Gates current Twitter pic.

What is the issue?

Tesco’s Twitter account has been hacked and used to promote Bitcoin cryptocurrency scam. The attacker behind the hack also changed Tesco's profile name to Bill Gates and tried to obtain followers’ personal details while impersonating Bill Gates.

The big picture

The hacked Tesco account promoted a Bitcoin cryptocurrency scam, asking Tesco followers to send bitcoins to a wallet and promising to send back twice the value.

“Bitcoin is on the rise again! One day, it will without a doubt replace first currencies. I’d like to give back to the community, therefore any bitcoin you send to this address, I will send back double! Comment your BTC address below when done. 3M3eTTJwkQkkL7GjSSSfrpfPJLyJztMAcY,” the tweet read, BleepingComputer reported.

However, the wallet did not receive any funds, implying that no followers fell for the scam.

Tesco account morphed into Bill Gates

The attacker behind the hack then changed Tesco's profile name to Bill Gates (@Billgatesmsc) and added Bill Gates current Twitter pic. The verification mark also disappeared from the account.

The hacker also replied to the complaining Tesco customers, asking their personal details such as full name, home address and postcode, in order to resolve the issue.

“Hello Sarah, thanks for getting in touch. I’m so sorry for the poor quality oranges. Can you please DM your full name, home address and postcode so I can take a look for you? May thanks - Eilish,” the hacker replied to one of the complaining customers.

Account recovered

Tesco managed to recover its hacked Twitter account and the tweets have now been deleted. The company has also restored its profile pic and header photos.