House of Commons Leader Lucy Powell had her X account hacked on 15 April 2025 to promote a fraudulent "House of Commons cryptocurrency," encouraging her followers to invest in the supposed digital currency branded as $HOC. The influential politician, who has nearly 70,000 followers and whose profile mentions her Cabinet position, made several posts about a so-called "community-driven digital currency bringing people's power to the blockchain," featuring the slogan "Transparency, participation, trust." The scammers used the House of Commons portcullis insignia to add an air of legitimacy, but the misleading posts were quickly removed after Powell's team took steps to secure the account.
Luke Nolan, a senior research associate at CoinShares, an asset management company specialising in digital assets, explained that the hack exemplifies a classic "pump and dump" scheme, where cryptocurrency creators artificially inflate its value, entice others to invest, and then sell their majority share for profit whilst leaving the coin worthless. The expert noted that only 34 transactions occurred during the scam, generating a profit of approximately £225 (300 US dollars) for the perpetrators. Nathaniel Jones, vice president for security and AI strategy at cybersecurity firm Darktrace, warned that criminals are evolving their tactics as fast as the market itself, and the industry stands at a critical juncture where security can no longer be an afterthought.
According to Action Fraud, the UK's national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime, 2024 saw a sharp rise in hacked social media and email accounts, with 35,434 cases reported compared to 22,530 in 2023. Powell's case is not isolated, as other public figures have recently fallen victim to similar attacks, including BBC journalist Nick Robinson, whose X account was also hacked to promote a cryptocurrency called $Today after he mistakenly clicked on an email he believed was sent by the platform. Experts advise users to set up 2-step verification for accounts and use strong, unique passwords, preferably consisting of three random words.
Sources:
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Harry Taylor
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Archie Mitchell
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