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08/21/2024

Hackers Hit McDonald's Instagram to Promote Grimace Memecoin, Pocket $700K

Hackers breached McDonald's official Instagram account on August 21 and walked away with over $700,000 in Solana after using the fast-food giant's social media page to promote and run a scam involving a fake memecoin called "Grimace." Screenshots shared on X showed McDonald's Instagram posting a series of promotions for a fake token based on the chain's purple mascot, Grimace. Instagram screenshot

Hackers Hit McDonald's Instagram to Promote Grimace Memecoin, Pocket $700K

Hackers breached McDonald's official Instagram account on August 21 and walked away with over $700,000 in Solana after using the fast-food giant's social media page to promote and run a scam involving a fake memecoin called "Grimace."

Screenshots shared on X showed McDonald's Instagram posting a series of promotions for a fake token based on the chain's purple mascot, Grimace.

Screenshot of McDonald's Instagram promoting the Grimace token. Source: X

Several posts described the fake memecoin as a "McDonald's experiment on Solana," pushed out to 5.1 million followers worldwide.

According to data from blockchain analytics firm Bubblemaps, the hackers used the Solana memecoin deployer pump.fun to pre-buy 75% of the Grimace token's total circulating supply before distributing it across roughly 100 different wallets.

Following the posts from McDonald's official account, the GRIMACE memecoin's market cap skyrocketed from just a few thousand dollars to $25 million in under 30 minutes, according to DexScreener data.

The token then cratered as the hackers dumped their holdings, and within 40 minutes the memecoin's value had collapsed to around $650,000.

GRIMACE's value surged to millions in just 30 minutes. Source: DexScreener

Bubblemaps reported that the hackers netted a total profit of approximately $700,000 in Solana (SOL) from the scheme.

Related: Ava Labs COO Confirms X Account Was Hacked After Memecoin Post

After the attack, the hackers also edited McDonald's profile bio to brag about what they'd pulled off, announcing they had pocketed a total of $700,000 from the scam.

"Sorry mah n-gga, you just got scammed by India_X_Kr3w, thank you for the $700k in Solana," the hackers wrote.

Screenshot showing McDonald's Instagram bio during the hack. Source: X

The memecoin promotional posts and the edited bio were subsequently removed and the page returned to normal.

McDonald's told the New York Post that it was aware of a "singular incident" that had affected its social media accounts on August 21.

"We have addressed the issue on those accounts and apologize to our fans for any offensive language posted during that time," McDonald's said.