Breaking Bad star’s Twitter hijacked to pump and dump memecoin for a second time

Dean Norris, best known as Hank Schrader in Breaking Bad, became the target of a Twitter hack for the second time in six months.

Once the hackers gained control, they used his account to promote a fake cryptocurrency.

The attack began with a tweet from Norris’ account reading, “I’ve decided to launch my own crypto coin named $Dean,” accompanied by the contract address.

The attackers even shared a doctored image of Norris holding a notepad with the coin’s symbol and date scrawled on it.

Within hours, the memecoin’s market cap climbed to $7 million, only to plummet 90% after Norris confirmed the scam.

Norris reclaimed his account and posted a video addressing the hack, saying, “Hey, this is Dean Norris, actually, and that whole crazy crypto shit was a complete fake scam. I was hacked and I just got it back.”

He admitted the delay in his response was due to infrequent Twitter use, adding, “I didn’t know I was hacked until I started getting texts from friends.”

This is the second time Norris’ account has been hacked to promote a cryptocurrency scam.

In September, his account tweeted about another fake coin, $SHRADER, on the TRON blockchain.

It has become increasingly difficult to distinguish between legitimate celebrity endorsements and scams, especially for those who don’t normally dabble in crypto.

Even Donald Trump’s recent announcement of the $TRUMP coin had many questioning whether his accounts had been compromised.

Crypto market movers

• Bitcoin has gained 0.7% in the past 24 hours and is trading at $105,000.
• Ethereum is up 1.3% over the same period to $3,330.

What we’re reading

• Ledger co-founder kidnapped and freed in France — here’s everything we know ― DL News
• SEC Withdraws Controversial Crypto Financial Reporting Bulletin ― CoinDesk
• President Trump Declares Crypto a National Priority in Executive Order ― Unchained
• Could Celestia be the next $ETH killer? ― Milk Road
• Crypto ETF issuers pile on filings in first week post-Gensler ― DL News

Kyle Baird is DL News’ Weekend Editor. Got a tip? Email at [email protected].