Deepfake Scam Alert: Hackers Hijack Vancouver Canucks’ X Account to Push Fake Elon Musk Crypto Giveaway

Another day, another crypto scam—this time with a side of hockey fandom. The Vancouver Canucks’ official X account was compromised earlier today, blasting out a deepfake video of Elon Musk promising ’free cryptocurrency’ to unsuspecting fans.

How it played out: The 12-second clip showed a glitchy-but-convincing Musk impersonator urging viewers to ’claim their BNB tokens’ via a phishing link. Classic pump-and-dump vibes—just with more synthetic charm.

Security fail: No 2FA in sight. The team regained control after two hours, but not before the post racked up thousands of views. Meanwhile, crypto bros in the replies insisted this was ’bullish for Web3 adoption.’

Bottom line: If a billionaire ever offers you free money during playoff season, maybe check the wallet address twice. Or just stick to hockey—at least those losses are tax-deductible.

NHL Account Had Deepfake Elon Musk Video Promising Crypto Giveaway

The post appeared on Monday afternoon, touting the new meme coin, along with a deepfake video. Besides, the video featured X owner Elon Musk promising a $20 million “crypto giveaway.”

It directed users to a fake Musk website, which appeared to be based in Russia, a local news reported.

all this discussion about signing bennett or ehlers.. canucks were worried about the wrong 2FAs pic.twitter.com/eLLltxPQWc

The posts were live for a few hours before it was fully removed by the NHL team. The timing of the breach is of particular importance, as it appeared just hours before Canucks’ scheduled NHL Draft Lottery.

The hackers apparently posted the video under an X post from US President Trump. It brought in some replies from hockey-focused accounts that the hackers replied to.

Hackers Even Replied to User Questions

Following the crypto promotion, hackers replied to one user who questioned whether Canucks’ X account has been hacked. The bad actors claim that they were not hacked, before Canucks’ official public relations account flagged the warning message to users.

A similar scam struck former Canucks goaltender Eddie Lack, where hackers gained control over his account, rebranded, and pushed a crypto scam.