UK lawmaker’s account hacked in $HCC crypto scam attempt

The verified X account of Lucy Powell, the UK Leader of the House of Commons, was hacked on April 15 to promote a fraudulent cryptocurrency called "House of Commons Coin" ($HCC).

The posts falsely claimed the token was a “community-driven digital currency” tied to the British Parliament, using official insignia to enhance credibility.

Powell’s account, followed by nearly 70,000 users, was compromised early in the day.

Her team acted swiftly to secure the account and delete the misleading posts.

A spokesperson confirmed that “steps were quickly taken to remove the content.”

The scam followed a typical "pump and dump" pattern, where fraudsters inflate a coin's value by attracting investments and then sell their holdings for profit, leaving the token worthless.

According to CoinShares, $HCC saw only 34 transactions, generating approximately $260 in profit for the scammers.

Media attention briefly boosted $HCC’s total transaction volume from $7,000 to $55,000.

Cybersecurity experts have warned that such incidents are becoming increasingly common as scammers target high-profile individuals to lend credibility to fraudulent schemes.

Nathaniel Jones of Darktrace noted that “fraudsters are evolving their tactics as fast as the market itself,” making it harder to track and prevent these scams.

This incident mirrors a similar hack in March involving Ghanaian President John Mahama’s X account, which was used to promote another scam cryptocurrency called “Solana Africa.”

Both cases highlight vulnerabilities in social media security and the growing need for multifactor authentication and stricter controls on official accounts.

Luke Nolan of CoinShares described Powell’s hack as an example of how quickly scammers can act.

“The tweet was deleted quite quickly, limiting the damage,” he said.

However, he emphasised that even brief exposure can lead to financial losses for unsuspecting investors.

The UK Parliament has not announced any formal investigation into the breach but reiterated its commitment to cybersecurity measures for members.