Commons Leader Lucy Powell's X Account Hacked to Promote Crypto Scam
Commons Leader Lucy Powell became the latest high-profile target of a crypto scam after her verified X account was hacked on Tuesday. Posts from her profile falsely promoted a so-called “House of Commons Coin ($HCC),” calling it “a community-driven digital currency bringing people’s power to the blockchain” and featuring the Parliament’s official logo. The misleading posts were swiftly deleted once her team regained control.
Powell’s office confirmed the breach, stating: “Lucy Powell’s personal X account was hacked this morning. Steps were taken quickly to secure the account and remove misleading posts.” Security experts described the incident as a typical “pump and dump” scam, where hackers try to lure followers into buying worthless cryptocurrency before cashing out. In this case, only 34 transactions were recorded, amounting to an estimated £225 in profits.
This isn’t the first time public figures have been hit by similar scams — BBC’s Nick Robinson and Laura Kuenssberg also had their accounts hijacked earlier this year to push fake digital coins. A Parliament spokesperson stressed: “UK Parliament takes cyber security extremely seriously” and continues to advise members on digital safety.
