Microsoft X account hacked to push Clippy-themed crypto scam

Microsoft's official X account was compromised in a hack that promoted a cryptocurrency scam tied to the retired Clippy assistant. The @Microsoft account, which has 13 million followers, reposted a tweet from a Clippy-themed crypto account, changed its profile image to feature Clippy, and posted a message claiming it would revive the assistant if it received 500,000 likes. The tweets were later deleted, and Microsoft issued a statement clarifying that it does not endorse any cryptocurrency, calling the incident a case of unauthorized access.

The company confirmed that the hacked account posted messages that did not originate from Microsoft. A spokesperson noted that the account has been secured, the unauthorized posts removed, and an investigation is ongoing. Microsoft also distanced itself from an apology tweet posted during the breach, stating it did not come from the company.

This incident follows a pattern of high-profile X account takeovers used to promote crypto scams. Past examples include a teenager hacking accounts of prominent figures like President Obama and Elon Musk to solicit Bitcoin donations, and a SIM-swap attack on the SEC account to push Bitcoin ETFs. Microsoft’s X account has previously been targeted by crypto scammers, such as a 2024 hack of the @MicrosoftIndia account to distribute malware.

Clippy, the once-popular digital assistant, was retired in 2007 but briefly revisited by Microsoft last year through a character named Mico, which was later removed from the Copilot app.