Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s personal Twitter account was “briefly compromised” during the early hours on Sunday, his office said after PM’s account shared a scam link promising a bitcoin giveaway. The account was immediately secured and restored after a short period, and the tweet was also deleted.
“The Twitter handle of PM @narendramodi was very briefly compromised. The matter was escalated to Twitter and the account has been immediately secured. In the brief period that the account was compromised, any Tweet shared must be ignored,” Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) tweeted.
The Twitter handle of PM @narendramodi was very briefly compromised. The matter was escalated to Twitter and the account has been immediately secured.
In the brief period that the account was compromised, any Tweet shared must be ignored.
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) December 11, 2021
Before the account was restored, the hackers shared a tweet promoting cryptocurrency along with a URL on PM Modi’s timeline which read, “India has officially adopted bitcoin as legal tender. The government has officially bought 500 BTC and is distributing them to all residents of the country.”
Several Twitter users shared the screenshot of the now-deleted tweet posted on PM Modi’s timeline. Srinivas BV, the National President of the Indian Youth Congress, tweeted: “Good Morning Modi Ji, Sab Changa Si [is everything alright]?”
Another confirmation that the Twitter account of the Hon'ble PM shri #NarendraModi ji was hacked.#Bitcoin #Bitcon .
Original screenshot by @AdityaRajKaul . It's gone viral… pic.twitter.com/JYwHjjyHEx— Tehseen Poonawalla Official ?? (@tehseenp) December 11, 2021
Some even warned people not to click on the link in the tweet. “Alert: Honourable PMs Handle is hacked. Please don’t click on the link in a tweet by PMs handle,” a user tweeted.
Alert :
Honourable PMs Handle is hacked. Please don't click on the link in a tweet by PMs handle pic.twitter.com/2FIscCyIwN
— Dr.Monika Langeh (@drmonika_langeh) December 11, 2021
PM Modi has over 73.4 million followers on the micro-blogging site. This is not the first time that such an incident has occurred with Modi’s Twitter handle.
In September 2020, an unidentified group had hacked Modi’s Twitter account, which updates his personal website and mobile app. The tweet posted on his account asked his followers to donate Bitcoin to the PM National relief fund for COVID-19.
“I appeal to you all to donate generously to PM National Relief Fund for Covid-19, Now India begins with cryptocurrency. Kindly Donate Bitcoin,” the tweet read.
