In a recent cyberattack, hackers commandeered McDonald’s official Instagram account to push a fraudulent Grimace meme coin, swindling users out of approximately $700,000 in Solana. The attack also extended to the personal X (formerly Twitter) account of McDonald’s Senior Marketing Director, amplifying the reach of the scam.
The fake Grimace Coin, which originated as a meme token inspired by a social media exchange between Elon Musk and McDonald’s, was falsely presented as an official project. Exploiting McDonald’s massive following of over 5 million on Instagram, the hackers posted misleading promotions that falsely promised lucrative returns through a so-called “McDonald’s experiment” on the Solana blockchain.
Within just 30 minutes of the fake coin’s promotion, its value sharply increased, but the hackers swiftly executed a “rug pull,” draining the liquidity and leaving investors with worthless tokens. After the scam, the hackers left a taunting message on McDonald’s Instagram, stating, “Sorry mah n**ga you have just been rug pulled by India_X_Kr3w thank you for the $700,000 in Solana.”
McDonald’s has since regained control of its Instagram account and removed all content related to the fraudulent token. The fast-food giant is now investigating the breach and collaborating with authorities to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Blockchain analytics firm Bubblemaps reported that the hackers controlled 75% of the Grimace Coin supply, utilizing multiple addresses to conduct trades. Despite numerous red flags, the token saw a trading volume exceeding $25 million within 24 hours, demonstrating the extent of the scam’s impact on the cryptocurrency community.
