The group behind one of many world’s largest blockchain networks confirmed that TRON’s X account was compromised on Might 2, 2025, in a focused social engineering assault. The breach lasted from 9:25 A.M. PST, when an unauthorized social gathering revealed a publish containing a suspicious contract handle. The hacker then proceeded to ship direct messages (DMs) to customers and observe unknown accounts.
Based on TRON’s post-incident evaluation, the attacker gained entry by focusing on a staff member with a malicious social engineering scheme. As soon as inside, the perpetrator used the official account to unfold a contract handle, probably luring followers into interacting with a fraudulent sensible contract. The attacker additionally despatched unsolicited DMs and adopted varied accounts, trying to additional exploit the breach even after TRON regained management of the account. TRON DAO promptly warned customers:
“TRON DAO won’t ever publish contract addresses or ship unsolicited DMs. For those who obtained a DM from our account on Might 2, please delete it and take into account it the work of the attacker.”
The group has since recognized a number of X and Telegram accounts believed to be related to the perpetrator and is working with regulation enforcement to research the incident.
TRON founder Justin Solar additionally referred to as on the OKX trade to freeze funds linked to the hack, and reposted the TRON official message on X with the easy phrases:
“Be protected.”
The rise of social engineering threats
Social engineering is liable for 98% of cyberattacks, and the TRON incident is the newest in a sequence of high-profile social engineering and phishing assaults within the crypto sector this yr. Simply days earlier, an aged American misplaced $330 million in Bitcoin after being focused by a classy social engineering rip-off. In that case, attackers manipulated the sufferer’s belief and gained entry to their pockets, shortly laundering the stolen funds via a number of exchanges and privateness cash.
One other latest case concerned the theft of over $40 million in bitcoin from a high-net-worth particular person. Hackers used a mix of phishing emails, impersonation, and faux help tickets to bypass even {hardware} pockets protections.
Superior social engineering ways can defeat even essentially the most watertight safety measures, and even crypto OGs can fall prey to classy hackers. The breach of TRON’s X account makes it clear that even well-resourced organizations should not proof against the risk.
