Saturday, April 19, 2025

Crypto sleuth investigates suspect in Sydney Sweeney’s hack


Just a few weeks after American actress Sydney Sweeney suffered a significant cryptocurrency-related hack on X, some new particulars on the assault and the alleged hacker have surfaced.

ZachXBT, an unbiased onchain sleuth, took to X on July 30 to submit his investigation into the current hack of Sydney Sweeney’s X account and the alleged connection of convicted hacker Gurvinder Bhangu to the incident.

The X account of the actress was hacked on July 2, 2024, with the attacker selling a Solana-based token, SWEENEY, in a pump-and-dump scheme. In accordance with findings by ZachXBT, Gurv was one of many folks behind the hack.

Bhangu, additionally known as “Gurv” within the submit by ZachXBT, is described as a convicted hacker who shortly served time in the UK for hacking into Instagram accounts and blackmailing the customers.

Supply: ZachXBT

In accordance with on-line stories, Gurv additionally beforehand hacked three victims in america and locked them out of their social media accounts, with one together with 1.1 million followers.

“After the incident, screenshots of Gurv receiving codes to log in to Sydney Sweeney’s account from the SIM swap on Telegram appeared on-line,” ZachXBT wrote.

Gurv additionally allegedly hacked Breaking Unhealthy’s Bob Odenkirk

Utilizing the Ethereum handle linked to the Sydney Sweeney SIM swap on July 9, ZachXBT managed to seek out one other assault perpetrated by Gurv or his accomplice.

On July 8, Breaking Unhealthy and Higher Name Saul actor Bob Odenkirk additionally suffered a hack on X, with a hacker posting a hyperlink to a memecoin, similar to within the Sweeney’s hack.

Associated: Bitfinex hacker Heather Morgan spotted at Bitcoin Conference 2024

In accordance with ZachXBT’s evaluation, the proceeds from the rip-off had been despatched to the identical Ethereum handle that funded the Solana handle.

Supply: ZachXBT

ZachXBT calls on the UK to go after Sweeney’s hacker

Within the X submit, ZachXBT expressed hope that UK legislation enforcement would rapidly pursue Gurv once more utilizing the “great amount of proof” he offered.

The on-chain analyst famous that “among the funds have been transferred to crypto casinos and to buy reward playing cards.” He additionally listed 4 wallets linked to the hacks and scams. On the time of ZachXBT’s submit, the wallets held $488,000 in cryptocurrency.

As beforehand reported, SIM swaps have been more and more utilized by on-line hackers, and such assaults are thought of non-demanding relating to technical expertise. To remain secure, customers have to be diligent with their identification safety and follow these steps to prevent such hacks.

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