PS5 Scammers Hijack Twitter Account of LA Lakers Co-Owner
A long-running scam involving hijacked Twitter accounts offering up fake PlayStation 5 consoles for sale briefly ensnared Jeanie Buss, co-owner of the Los Angeles Lakers.
On Monday night, Buss’s Twitter account announced she had three PS5s up for sale and called on interested users to send her a direct message. “All proceeds will go directly towards charity and everyone that purchases one will have the chance to attend a Lakers game,” the post said.
The deal was certainly enticing for NBA fans, but it wasn’t real. On Tuesday, the official Lakers Twitter account confirmed(Opens in a new window) that someone had hijacked Buss’s account.
“Lakers Fans, my Twitter account has been hacked. Please do not engage with it or send any money. These are NOT legitimate offers,” Buss wrote in the tweet.
The hack is embarrassing for the Lakers co-owner, but Buss wasn't the only victim. The scammers have been running their scheme for over a year now by hijacking verified Twitter accounts, probably through password guessing.
In the past, the scammers have taken over Twitter accounts only to dress them up as seemingly legitimate product-tracking services for buying a PS5. But in other cases, the culprits have hacked Twitter accounts belonging to celebrities(Opens in a new window) and pretended to offer PS5s for sale.
Users who communicated with Buss’s Twitter account during the hijacking say the scammers asked interested customers to send $540 to a Zelle account. The fraudsters then promised they would create a shipping label for the PS5.
It’s unclear how many users fell for the ploy. But some were quick to realize the scam nature of the deal, and trolled(Opens in a new window) the hackers by asking to pay for the PS5 with NBA draft
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