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BBC journalist Nick Robinson says his X formerly Twitter account got hacked after he fell victim to an online phishing scam. The British media personality, who hosts the Today program, explained that he got locked out of his account on Monday (Feb. 10) after clicking on a link in an email he mistakenly thought was from X. The hackers then used his account to promote cryptocurrency.
The 61-year-old said that he was back online on Tuesday after his passwords were changed. In a post on X, he wrote: “I really hope you didn’t buy any Today cryptocurrency! I’m afraid my account was hacked. Back online now. I’ll never point out the inaccuracies in an @elonmusk [post] again.”
I really hope you didn’t buy any Today cryptocurrency! I’m afraid my account was hacked. Back online now. I’ll never point out the inaccuracies in an @elonmusk again 🤥 pic.twitter.com/KCgemXQpU3
— Nick Robinson (@bbcnickrobinson) February 11, 2025
Nick Robinson warns users to be vigilant over phishing emails
After Tuesday’s Today programme, Robinson admitted he had fallen for the scam even though he had taken online security courses that explained the warning signs of phishing emails. He said the hackers made it seem like he was launching a cryptocurrency called “$Today” on the Solana blockchain. Several users quickly noticed the hack and pointed out that it was a scam.
Speaking to the program, Robinson said: “Why? Because my defenses were down – I was tired after a very long day, I was rushing, and the phishing email made me think that if I didn’t act fast I’d be in trouble.
“However, I didn’t just fall for it. I tried repeatedly to use the official authentic X site to deal with the problem I was being alerted to, and only after trying again and again and failing did I think ‘oh sod it, what’s the worst that can happen?’
“Well now I know. I should have thought the opposite – i.e. if this alleged problem is really serious they’ll be in touch again.”
He added: “My main mistake was not to check the email address which made clear it wasn’t X that were contacting me but a hacker. Everything else looked just like the real thing.”
The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre issued advice following the hack, saying: “It happens to everyone but here’s our advice to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Thank you @bbcnickrobinson for sharing your account issues on @BBCr4today. It happens to everyone but here's our advice to make sure it doesn't happen again https://t.co/rjI3CK7s0T
— NCSC UK (@NCSC) February 11, 2025
Rise of crypto scams on X
Crypto scams have been flooding the platform recently. Just last week, ReadWrite reported that the X account of Jupiter Exchange was also hacked, leading to financial losses for some users. We previously reached out to X for a response about the hack, but we’re still waiting to hear back.
Even Nasdaq wasn’t spared last month, as hackers took over its account to promote a fake meme coin called STONKS. The scam took off, pushing STONKS to an $80 million market cap, even though another memecoin with the same name had launched on Solana that same day.
Featured image: Grok
