Imran Khan's Instagram account briefly hacked by crypto scammers

Published August 1, 2022
A screenshot of PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s Instagram account showing the suspicious link attached. — Dawn
A screenshot of PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s Instagram account showing the suspicious link attached. — Dawn

PTI Chairman Imran Khan's Instagram account was briefly hacked on Monday, the party's social media head has confirmed.

Dr Arslan Khalid told Dawn.com that the account was hacked, however, adding that it was recovered soon with the help of Meta — Facebook and Instagram's parent company.

He said he himself monitored Imran's account, which has 7.4 million followers, adding that the hackers had shared a cryptocurrency link to the account.

Khalid said the hackers also shared a screenshot of a tweet from Tesla chief executive Elon Musk.

The flamboyant billionaire is often impersonated by scammers and hackers looking to cheat people. In May 2021, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said that fake promised giveaways by celebrities such as Musk were being used by scammers to cash in on interest in cryptocurrencies.

In one type of scam, people are told that if they give a certain amount of cryptocurrency to a "celebrity" they will get more back.

"People have reported sending more than $2 million in cryptocurrency to Elon Musk impersonators over just the past six months," the FTC had said.


Additional input from Reuters.

Opinion

Editorial

Spread of hate
Updated 18 Jun, 2025

Spread of hate

HATE speech is not confined to words; in fact, there is a causal link between hateful rhetoric and real-world...
Big challenges
18 Jun, 2025

Big challenges

BALOCHISTAN’S Rs1.028tr budget, featuring a public development investment of Rs245bn and provincial surplus of...
Rampant disinformation
Updated 18 Jun, 2025

Rampant disinformation

WITH the arrival and proliferation of digital media, the creation of information is now a decentralised function,...
Window dressing
Updated 17 Jun, 2025

Window dressing

Meanwhile, the provinces lack the resources and expertise to implement adaptation measures effectively.
No revenue effort
17 Jun, 2025

No revenue effort

WITH the ruling PML-N’s next budget unfolding large infrastructure schemes, and expenditure focusing on service...
Pomp and circumstance
17 Jun, 2025

Pomp and circumstance

THE sight of columns of tanks rolling down a boulevard, accompanied by troops goose-stepping in lockstep, was a...