Hacked: Peter Schiff Still Can’t Get His Twitter Account Back

Tuesday, June 6, 2023, 11:44:00 AM

If you were wondering why Peter Schiff, who notoriously dislikes crypto, was promoting a new token over the weekend — yes, he was hacked.

This was confirmed by his son Spencer Schiff, who first alerted people by telling them not to click on the link of the now-deleted tweet.

The hacked account shared a number of posts promoting a gold-branded token that’s supposed to represent tokenized gold and revolutionize gold-backed decentralized finance (DeFi). The tweets have since been removed from Schiff’s account but he has yet to regain control due to verification issues.

After his account got hacked, my dad (@PeterSchiff) still can't access it because Twitter is apparently unable to verify him as the legitimate owner of the account. @elonmusk your help would be appreciated, he had nearly a million followers so this account is important to him.
— Spencer Schiff (@SpencerKSchiff) June 6, 2023

The younger Schiff has already tagged Twitter owner Elon Musk to call attention to the problem but Musk has, as of this writing, yet to respond.

SIM Swaps

It appears that Schiff’s was just one of a number of accounts owned by finance and crypto personalities that were hacked over the weekend, among them Jim Bianco and Pete Rizzo. The hacks were done via “SIM Swap” where the hacker gains control of a target’s phone number.

You probably saw that @PeterSchiff twitter was hacked. @pete_rizzo_'s twitter was hacked.

We've seen a lot of others lately.

Why?

Because twitter now requires a phone number to be verified.

If someone has your identity and phone number, you are VERY easy to Sim Swap.
— The Wolf Of All Streets (@scottmelker) June 5, 2023

Twitter founder Jack Dorsey was also a victim of a similar attack in 2019. However, the recent attacks highlight the still turbulent situation at Twitter. Musk fired most of the platform’s engineers since he took over in late October.

I'll throw this out there, and maybe "hehe it's just a hypothetical", but Twitter needs more engineers. https://t.co/eoAj7KaDfH pic.twitter.com/x6XUMsY8Ei
— Lyn Alden (@LynAldenContact) June 6, 2023

Information for this story was found via Coin Gape, BSC News, Twitter, The New York Times, and the sources and companies mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to the organizations discussed. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.