Hacked Ava Labs COO's X Account Promotes PikaCoin Memecoin Linked to Pikachu

The X account of Ava Labs’ chief operating officer, Luigi D’Onorio DeMeo, was reportedly hacked on August 19.

Ava Labs chief operating officer Luigi D’Onorio DeMeo’s X account was reportedly hacked on August 19. The compromised account began promoting a newly launched Pokémon-themed memecoin and shared suspicious links.

The hacked account posted about a Solana-based memecoin called Pika (PIKA), referencing the popular character Pikachu. The posts, which have since been deleted, included statements like,

“I’m an [Avalanche] maxi, but it’s inevitable that Solana is leading this bull market. Due to the increased search for memecoins, I’m creating the $PIKA token on Solana, based on my favorite character.”

These posts led to immediate warnings from crypto users advising others not to interact with the links.

PIKA Token Crashes 99% After Market Cap Surges to $388K Following Hacked Post

According to DEX Screener, following the posts, the market cap of PIKA surged to $388,570 at 1:40 am UTC. However, the value quickly dropped by over 99%, falling to a current market cap of $3,289. The drastic change indicated a potential pump-and-dump scheme orchestrated by the hackers.

Hacked Ava Labs COO’s X Account Promotes Fake AVAX Airdrop

In addition to promoting PIKA, the hacked account posted links to websites claiming that Ava Labs was distributing Avalanche (AVAX) tokens through airdrops. These links directed users to connect their crypto wallets, likely to steal funds. Comments on the posts were disabled, possibly to prevent users from warning others about the scam.

Reports indicate that attackers registered one of the scam websites just 18 minutes before sharing it through DeMeo’s account. They quickly set up the domain and linked it to the hacked account in a short time, demonstrating a well-coordinated effort.

Similar incidents have occurred before. In July, the X account of actress Sydney Sweeney was hacked to promote a crypto token. Such attacks highlight ongoing security concerns on social media platforms.

Ava Labs and DeMeo have not yet responded to requests for comment.

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