The hacked account, known as @OpenAINewsroom, is used by OpenAI to share updates and news. The account has nearly 54,000 followers and was recently created to spotlight product and policy-related announcements.
The scammers posted an announcement claiming the launch of a new cryptocurrency called “$OPENAI,” which supposedly bridges the gap between AI and blockchain technology. The post stated that all OpenAI users were eligible to claim a portion of the cryptocurrency’s initial supply and that holding $OPENAI would grant access to future beta programs. However, the token does not exist, and the link provided directed users to a phishing website masquerading as OpenAI’s official site but with an incorrect URL (“token-openai.com”).
The fake website prompted users to connect their cryptocurrency wallets, a tactic likely aimed at stealing users’ login credentials and draining their wallets of cryptocurrencies and NFTs. Several indicators suggested this was a scam, including a glaring typo in the post (“$OPEANAI” instead of “$OPENAI”), the link directing to a non-affiliated website, and the disabling of comments to prevent malicious links from being reported.
