Animoca Brands Co-Founder Yat Siu's Social Media Account Hacked to Promote Fake $ANIMOCA Token

Animoca Brands co-founder Yat Siu's social media account was recently compromised to falsely promote a purported crypto token, $ANIMOCA, on the Solana blockchain.

Animoca Brands co-founder Yat Siu’s social media account was recently compromised to falsely promote a purported crypto token, $ANIMOCA, on the Solana blockchain.

A public notice from Animoca Brands clarified that there are no official token or non-fungible token (NFT) launches associated with the company at this time. The company urged users to avoid any interactions with the compromised account until it is restored.

The incident highlights the increasing prevalence of Solana-based meme coin scams, with the U.S. Department of Justice having indicted two California men for running NFT scams that defrauded investors of over $22 million.

Solana's infrastructure has been identified as being prone to unique vulnerabilities, making it a target for fraud. These scams exploit Solana’s token account structure and its one-step transaction approval process, which facilitate the execution of fraudulent activities and make fund recovery challenging.

Animoca Brands, founded in 2014 by Siu and David Kim, began as a mobile game developer but shifted its focus in 2018 to blockchain gaming and NFTs, becoming a major player in the Web3 industry.

The compromise of Siu’s account demonstrates the persistent threats to digital security, particularly in the blockchain and cryptocurrency realms. Animoca Brands has stated that it will provide updates as the situation is resolved.