While Ghanaian President John Mahama was likely attending to matters of state, hackers seized control of his X account and turned it into a cryptocurrency scam billboard. The digital hijacking lasted a full 48 hours. Started Saturday, wasn’t even noticed until Sunday. Classic.
The cybercriminals wasted no time promoting their bogus “Solanafrica” project, claiming it was Mahama’s own initiative to revolutionize payments across Africa. They posted fake endorsements. They hinted at a new memecoin launch. They practically begged followers to invest in what was, obviously, complete garbage.
The scammers turned Mahama’s hacked account into a crypto carnival barker, hawking their phony “Solanafrica” scheme with all the subtlety of a neon billboard.
Spokesperson Kwakye Ofosu finally confirmed what everyone suspected: the account was compromised. The team deleted the fraudulent posts and spent two days wrestling back control. Mahama himself later posted confirmation that the account was secure again, urging everyone to ignore any crypto nonsense posted during the breach.
This isn’t exactly groundbreaking criminal innovation. Same thing happened to South African opposition leader Julius Malema last July. Nigerian businessman Tony Elumelu got hit in 2022. Verified accounts are prime targets. Big following, instant credibility. A scammer’s dream.
Cybersecurity experts say the usual advice isn’t cutting it anymore. Two-factor authentication? Not enough. They’re pushing for stricter backend security checks, 24/7 account monitoring, and limited third-party access. Even after official detection of the breach, the account continued sharing crypto-related content for hours. Because clearly, the current safeguards are about as effective as a paper umbrella in a hurricane.
Solana itself is gaining popularity in Africa due to lower transaction fees compared to Bitcoin and Ethereum. Despite its market cap fluctuations that occur in real-time with every trade, its growing name recognition makes it perfect bait for scams. Africa has the smallest crypto economy globally, yet fraudsters continue to target the region aggressively. Criminals don’t need to invent new tricks when the old ones work so well.
The incident highlights the growing sophistication of cybercriminals targeting high-profile accounts and exposes the vulnerabilities that exist even for prominent political figures. Just another day in the wild west of social media and cryptocurrency – where your account is secure until suddenly, it’s not.
