Twitter Account Tied To Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Targeted In Hacking Operation

A Twitter account tied to the personal website of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was apparently targeted Wednesday in a hacking operation. The account, narendramodi_in, was asking followers to donate to a relief fund with cryptocurrency.

The hacked tweets were later deleted. Modi’s office has not yet commented on the incident but it was confirmed by Twitter.

"We are actively investigating the situation. At this time, we are not aware of additional accounts being impacted," a Twitter spokeswoman said in an emailed statement to Reuters.

The Twitter account tied to Modi has more than 2.5 million followers.

Modi is the latest high-profile figure to be targeted by hackers as part of a Bitcoin scam. On July 15, Twitter accounts belonging to Barack Obama, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and other high-profile individuals were hacked as part of a Bitcoin scheme.

The hacked accounts asked followers to send them Bitcoin and promised to send the donations back to their fans at double the amount. The messages reached at least 350 million Twitter users, raising $120,000 worth of Bitcoin for the hackers through at least 300 transactions.

Florida authorities have already arrested 17-year-old Graham Ivan Clark, who is believed to be involved in the cyber heist. In addition, 22-year-old Nima Fazeli and 19-year-old Mason Sheppard were also charged by the Department of Justice for involvement in the operation.

According to the New York Times, federal agents on Tuesday served a 16-year-old with a search warrant and searched the Massachusetts home where he lives with his parents. The teenager has not been identified and is also believed to have taken part in the July 15 breach.