Scammers hack Twitter portal using stolen Italian government emails

ZachXBT reported that scammers recently hacked into Twitter’s Legal Request portal using stolen Italian government emails.

The crypto sleuth noted that scammers used unauthorized access to the Twitter Legal Request portal to ban accounts, look up information, and remove posts by forging fake subpoenas.

ZachXBT said he was a victim of the attempted take-downs. He shared an instance where he received an email from Twitter stating that Italian law enforcement had requested the removal of five of his tweets.

The tweets in question were about ZachXBT’s investigations into the $6.3 million Animoon non-fungible token (NFT) rug pull that is currently being investigated by French authorities.

According to the crypto detective, the same group responsible for the Animoon heist also gained access to famous crypto influencer BitBoy Crypto’s Twitter account.

It used it to steal another $700,000 worth of digital assets.  

He pointed out the involvement of an individual named “Chase,” who also goes by the pseudonym “HZ,” who he alleges is a notorious phishing scammer. Chase previously had his assets seized by law enforcement after allegedly stealing millions from hacked NFT Twitter accounts.

The on-chain investigator claimed that Chase previously contacted him on Telegram with details of the purported Twitter legal request from the Italian government.

The scammers’ misuse of the Twitter Legal Request portal has reportedly resulted in harassment of individuals and projects, leading to financial losses. The fraudulent activities involve requesting to remove content by impersonating Italian law enforcement officials.

ZachXBT has called on Twitter to review these malicious reports and revoke access to the compromised email account.

This case is still unfolding, and further updates are expected as Twitter responds to these allegations and takes action to rectify the situation. 

The investigator’s work to unravel various hacks and scams in the crypto space has seen him receive blow-back in recent times.

He was previously on the wrong end of a lawsuit by controversial NFT trader Jeffrey Huang, also known as Machi Big Brother, who accused ZachXBT of posting and disseminating defamatory articles.

The detective published an article in June 2022 alleging that Machi Big Brother had embezzled 22,000 ETH, valued at $37 million, from Formosa Financial.