Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin’s X account was hacked, leading to over $691,000 in losses for his followers who clicked on a malicious link. The hacker pretended to offer a free NFT to celebrate a new Ethereum feature and asked users to connect their wallets to a fake website. The hacker then drained the funds from the connected wallets, including several CryptoPunks NFTs.

The hack was reported by Dmitry Buterin, Vitalik’s father, who warned users to disregard the post and said that Vitalik was working on restoring access to his account. The post was later deleted, but not before it caused significant damage to many users.

The hacker’s actions were tracked by ZachXBT, a blockchain investigator, who shared the details of the stolen funds and the hacker’s address on X. According to ZachXBT, the hacker managed to steal over $691,000 worth of crypto assets, including 33% in drainer fee address.

This is not the first time that a prominent crypto figure’s X account was hacked to promote a scam. In July, Blockchain Capital’s X account was hacked to advertise a token claim scam that resulted in over $2 million in losses for users.

Users are advised to be careful when clicking on links from unknown sources or from accounts that may have been compromised. Users should also verify the authenticity of any website or platform that asks them to connect their wallets or provide their private keys.