Trump Campaign Website Hit by Hackers Touting Crypto Scam

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28 October 2020

U.S. President Donald Trump’s campaign website was briefly compromised on Tuesday as hackers looked to fleece cryptocurrency from unsuspecting supporters in the final days before the 2020 election.

  • The attack, which lasted less than 30 minutes, saw the website defaced with messages claiming the hackers had compromising information on Trump and his family.
  • As reported by The New York Times, the hackers were soliciting donations in the monero cryptocurrency due to its privacy-enhancing properties that make it hard to trace.
  • The cybercriminals said they had compromised "multiple devices," giving them access to the “most internal and secret conversations” of the president and his inner circle.
  • Onlookers were given a choice: they could either donate monero to a wallet that prompted the hackers to "share the data" or another wallet asking them to keep it private.
  • Trump's administration was accused without evidence of participating in the spread of COVID-19 and collaborating with “foreign actors manipulating the 2020 elections.”
  • The New York Times also reported the website takeover and subsequent solicitation of crypto donations appeared to be a variation on the common crypto "giveaway" scam.
  • Such scams ask people to send money to a particular address with the false promise of doubling or returning a victim's funds.
  • Similar attacks hit major accounts on Twitter back in July, including that of former Vice President Joe Biden.
  • The source of the attack is unclear, but an investigation is currently underway by U.S. law enforcement.
  • The incident comes as the U.S. presidential election campaign between incumbent Trump and challenger Biden enters its last week.
  • Biden is far ahead of Trump when it comes to donations, according to another NYT article.

See also: Election 2020: What’s at Stake for the Crypto Industry

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