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The US Sun
McDonald’s Instagram account hacked with brand forced to shut down ‘attack’ and delete posts and revised bio
By Carsen Holaday,
3 hours ago
MCDONALD’S’ Instagram account was hacked on Monday afternoon, causing the brand to quickly shut down the attack – but not before fast food lovers caught the bizarre changes.
Screenshots show the McDonald’s profile bio was changed to a strange message about crypto before the Instagram was restored back to normal.
McDonald’s’ Instagram page was hacked on Wednesday afternoon The hacker changed the brand’s Instagram bio and shared two posts Instagram Hackers promoted a crypto network called Solana during the cyberattack Getty McDonald’s hasn’t spoken out about the incident Getty
The reported hackers also shared two posts to the page, including a music video, before the fast food chain regained control of the account.
“Sup mah n***a you have just been rug pulled,” the bio said for a moment, giving a shout out to another Instagram handle.
“Thank you for the $700,000 in Solana,” the message also read, adding the flag of India and a link to Telegram, which is a messaging app.
The username that the bio linked out to has an X account under the same handle – and that profile’s bio claimed another huge fast food chain might be hacked.
“KFC next,” the account’s bio said.
McDonald’s apologized for the incident in a statement to The U.S. Sun.
“We are aware of an isolated incident that impacted our social media accounts earlier today,” the chain said.
“We have resolved the issue on those accounts and apologize to our fans for any offensive language posted during that time.”
INSIDE THE HACK
Solana is a cryptocurrency network. The since-deleted posts promoted a meme token called GRIMACE, calling it “a McDonald’s experiment on Solana.”
The U.S. Sun has reached out to Solana for comment.
Grimace is an iconic purple McDonald’s character who has been the subject of viral memes and trends over the past few years, including the chain’s own Grimace-themed milkshake .
In crypto, a rug pull is a type of scam where fake crypto or NFT projects are set up for fraud.
After promoting the project and collecting funds, the developers suddenly cash out – causing the token’s value to plummet.
Expert Tips: Crypto Scam Red Flags
Scam expert Toby Braun, the managing partner for American Special Investigative Group and Heroya Cryptocurrency Investigations spoke exclusively to The U.S. Sun about the warning signs of crypto scams.
Beware of a “Crypto trading platform, service or fund offering unusually high returns,” he said as these “are more than likely a scam.”
Individuals who still go ahead with the investment should ensure that “professional due diligence” is carried out regarding the individual or platform.
His second tip is to “refrain from responding to personal solicitations involving cryptocurrency from an unknown source.”
This can be via any social media platform, emails, text messages, or WhatsApp.
The third red flag is being approached by people who seem to be overly friendly.
“Many scammers use deepfake technology to pretend to be someone on dating sites they are not,” Braun said.
“Once the scammers connect with their unbeknown victim who is often just looking for a real connection, they flatter them before sharing how much money they are making with crypto.
“The victim is then lured into making substantial investments, and deposit funds they’ll never see again.”
Similarly, the expert warned people away from engaging with strangers or people they have just met if they are asking for money or encouraging them to invest.
Lastly, “be aware of anything that simply sounds too good to be true. It generally never is,” he added.
McDonald’s fans are sharing their shock at the incident in the comments of the restaurant’s latest post.
“I just lost it all on the grimace coin,” one lamented.
“Imagine getting rugged by McDonalds ,” another said.
“Give me my Solana back,” another demanded.
Social media reports show that the marketing director of McDonald’s, Guillaume Huin, was also hacked as a post about GRIMACE appeared on his X account.
The post has since been deleted.
Despite the hacker claiming to have stolen $700,000 from investors, McDonald’s and Solana have not confirmed the amount.
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