Rock Legend Slash Leaves X After Hacking Attack
Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash has quit social media platform X after his account was hacked to promote a fake cryptocurrency.
The famous musician left the platform on Tuesday because of what he called ‘repeated hacks’ of his account. Last week, hackers broke into his verified profile and used it to promote a Solana-based meme coin called GUNS, falsely claiming it was an official Guns N’ Roses crypto project.
“This was a considered decision after repeated hacks, and it reflects a shift in how I’d like to stay connected moving forward,” Slash told followers in what appears to be his final post on the platform, writes Decrypt.
Bluesky
In his goodbye message, the rock star directed fans to follow him on other popular social media platforms. Some fans suggested he try Bluesky, which is a more secure alternative.
The hack happened shortly after April Fool’s Day. The hackers posted several promotional messages about the fake cryptocurrency, writing: “In 2 hours, we’re launching a meme coin on SOLANA. Stay tuned…”
They also pinned a post claiming they would “invest $1M in $GUNS in the next hour” to create fake excitement.
These posts have been deleted, but the token is still available on PumpFun, with only about $3,300 in value remaining.
Fake cryptocurrency
This isn’t the first time that cryptocurrency scammers have targeted a rock band. Last year, the American metal band Metallica had their X account hacked to promote another fake cryptocurrency called METAL.
Those hackers used Metallica’s brand colors and falsely claimed partnerships with Ticketmaster. That fake token reached a value of at least $10 million before quickly losing value within hours.
These attacks are part of a bigger problem where hackers target musicians and celebrities to promote scams.
