Modi's Twitter account hacked with Bitcoin post, restored

New Delhi, Dec 12 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi's personal Twitter handle was restored after getting "very briefly compromised," the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a tweet on Sunday, after it shared a link promising a bitcoin giveaway.

"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 said in a tweet.

The account of Modi, who has more than 73.4 million followers, has now been restored.

Before the account was restored, a tweet was shared 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."

Minutes later, another tweet was posted, saying, "Yes this account is hacked by John Wick (hckindia@tutanota.com), We have not hacked Paytm Mall."

"We have 24X7 open lines of communication with the PM's Office and our teams took necessary steps to secure the compromised account as soon as we became aware of this activity. Our investigation has revealed that there are no signs of any other impacted accounts at this time," Twitter spokesperson told IANS.

After Prime Minister Modi's account was compromised, #Hacked began trending in India.

"Good Morning Modi ji, Sab Changa Si?," Srinivas BV, the national president of the Indian Youth Congress, tweeted.

"Was the Twitter account of the Hon'ble PM shri #NarendraModi ji hacked? And promise of #Bitcoin !!" tweeted political activist Tehseen Poonawalla.

Another user warned others about the link. "#PMmodi #modi account #hacked, please do not click on the link. It's a scam. ... Even PM's account is not safe. How safe will be Indian social media from hackers, manipulators, scammers and foreign influence? #Twitter verified security compromised?"

Earlier, in September 2020, the Twitter account linked to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's personal website and mobile app was hacked by an unknown group with a series of tweets asking followers to donate to a relief fund through cryptocurrency.