Hacking Incident Involving Lucy Powell
Lucy Powell, the Leader of the House of Commons and a UK member of Parliament, fell victim to a hacking incident that compromised her official X account. On April 15, her account shared several posts promoting a fraudulent cryptocurrency known as the House of Commons Coin (HOC), which was branded as “a community driven digital currency.” Staff members for Powell confirmed to the BBC that immediate action was taken to secure her account and eliminate the misleading content.
Details of the Fraudulent Cryptocurrency
According to DEX Screener data, the HOC token garnered minimal interest, reaching a market cap exceeding $24,000 shortly after the fraudulent posts were published. It recorded a total of 736 transactions and a trading volume of only $71,000. This incident marks a notable departure for Powell, who has not previously engaged in cryptocurrency promotion. However, such endorsements are not uncommon among politicians. For instance, both Donald Trump and Melania Trump faced backlash after launching meme coins just before his inauguration in 2017, while Argentina’s President Javier Milei was embroiled in a political scandal following his promotion of a token named LIBRA that plummeted in value.
Related Hacking Incidents
This breach of Powell’s X account parallels an earlier hacking incident involving Ghana’s President John Mahama. In March, Mahama’s account was overtaken for two days, during which the hijackers pushed a scam cryptocurrency named Solanafrica, misleading his 2.4 million followers with false claims about financial services supported by Solana and the Bank of Ghana. Mahama’s team managed to regain control after 48 hours, and a spokesman urged followers to disregard any suspicious cryptocurrency posts from his account.
