AIMIM's Twitter account targeted by hackers, posts as Elon Musk

The official Twitter account of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) was hacked today. The same account was hacked 0 days ago as well but was restored. The hack occurred at around 1 pm today. The hacker(s) removed the Twitter bio of the AIMIM party’s official verified account handle. They changed the name from AIMIM to ‘Elon Musk’. The image of the Twitter account was also changed to a photo of Elon Musk, Tesla CEO. The AIMIM account had approximately 6.78 lakh followers.

AIMIM's Twitter account hacked

No new tweets were posted by the account but the hacker put replies about cryptocurrency on other tweets posted on the site. One such reply was also posted on Elon Musk's tweet. The follower count was not affected during the hack. As per reports, the party is making constant attempts to recover control of the Twitter handle. The party chief, Asaduddin Owaisi has not put out any statements on the hack so far. Owaisi is a Member of the Parliament of Lok Sabha, from the Hyderabad constituency. 

Previous Twitter hacks 

A number of Twitter hackings have been noticed in recent times. Recently, the Indore police website was hacked and objectionable content against PM Narendra Modi was posted on it. Slogans like "free Kashmir" and hailing Pakistan were also posted on the site during the hack. Last year in February, the Jagtial District Collector’s Twitter handle was also hacked. The hacker had commented on a post put up by south Indian actor Rashmika Mandanna. The issue was taken to the notice of the police.

As per reports, earlier this year in April, Andhra Minister Mekapati Goutham Reddy’s Twitter handle was hacked. The hacker had posted pornographic material from the account handle. The minister had later approached the cyber police for filing a complaint against the hacking incident. Many people on Twitter have shared screenshots fake private messages they received from hacked accounts, which read, “Hi Dear User, Copyright infringement was detected in one of the tweets on your account. If you think copyright infringement is wrong, you need to provide feedback. Otherwise, your account will be suspended within 48 hours. You can give feedback at the link below. Thank you for your understanding.” These hackings are being doubted as a potential phishing scam.

(IMAGE: AP/PTI/PIXABAY)