Those who have lived or traveled internationally probably understand that there is one sport that truly dominates and captivates the entire world, and that would be soccer. In fact, if you break down the numbers, a majority of the entire world follows soccer, as it boasts over 4 billion fans. However, the second-most popular sport in the world is cricket, which has billions of fans of its own.
Cricket is much more than a sport in certain countries such as India, the second most-populous country in the world. Cricket is also extremely popular in South Africa. Unfortunately, an official Twitter account associated with the South African cricket board was compromised by cryptocurrency hackers.
Incident Details
The account that was compromised is @OfficialCSA, and its Twitter bio describes itself as “the custodians of cricket in South Africa.” The account boasts over 1 million followers.
Twitter handle @OfficialCSA was compromised overnight and was selling Bitcoin lottery. The issue was resolved after seven hours and the handle apologized to their Twitter followers who were affected by the hack. pic.twitter.com/4vf4Zpvv1T
— The Sports Rumour (@thesportsrumour) January 14, 2019
Once the account was compromised, it tweeted out that “@OfficialCSA was partnering with @lunomoney for the first South African Bitcoin Lottery” (although it misspelled the word “first). Like many Twitter cryptocurrency scams, the tweet then asked followers to send .01 BTC to a certain Bitcoin (BTC) address in order for a chance to win 20 BTC.
Issue Resolved
The official Twitter account of the International Cricket Council (ICC), the global governing body that was founded over a century ago, acknowledged the fact that the account was compromised. The account has over 8 million followers, and warned users in a tweet to “not click on any links or engage with the account until such time as this is rectified”:
🚨 Please be aware that the @OfficialCSA Twitter account has been compromised. Our friends in South Africa are working hard to resolve the situation quickly.
Please do not click on any links or engage with the account until such time as this is rectified. pic.twitter.com/wJmk2v4sWg
— ICC (@ICC) January 14, 2019
Luckily, the @OfficialCSA account was ultimately restored, and in a series of tweets, the ICC “welcomed the account back”, showing a GIF of South African cricket fans celebrating:
And they're back! 🙌🇿🇦 pic.twitter.com/wYLOPQZJQC
— ICC (@ICC) January 14, 2019
The company involved with the incident also made sure to distance itself from the tweet, stating that no partnership with CSA had been formed:
We distance ourselves from this tweet that is going around. We have not partnered with @OfficialCSA – read our blog and learn how to protect your money: https://t.co/yDlGoUsWy8 https://t.co/FlyoJipSJu
— Luno (@lunomoney) January 14, 2019
