Official Pokémon X account hacked for 30 minutes to push fake $POKEMON memecoin

Someone decided to catch ’em all, and by “all” they meant unsuspecting crypto buyers. The official @Pokemon account on X was briefly compromised on August 27, with hackers using the platform to shill a fake memecoin called $POKEMON to the account’s more than 8 million followers. The unauthorized posts ran for roughly 30 minutes before The Pokémon Company regained control, scrubbed the fraudulent content, and issued a statement making clear it has zero affiliation with any crypto project or token. What happened The attackers timed the hack to coincide with Pokémon’s 30th anniversary celebrations, a detail that made the scam posts look at least superficially plausible. The fraudulent tweets promoted $POKEMON as an official cryptocurrency tied to the anniversary, complete with a contract address and a link designed to mimic the legitimate anniversary website. The Pokémon Company moved quickly to contain the damage. After regaining access, the company removed all unauthorized posts and published a statement apologizing for the confusion while unequivocally distancing itself from any cryptocurrency ventures. A pattern that refuses to die What makes the Pokémon hack particularly effectiv...