NHS exec’s Twitter accounts hacked to promote PS5 scam • Eurogamer.net

An NHS executive’s Twitter accounts were hacked to promote a PlayStation 5 sales scam.

Helen Bevan, who is chief transformation officer of NHS Horizons, saw her two Twitter accounts with a combined 133,000 followers hacked and then used to flog fake PS5s, the BBC reports.

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According to the BBC, Bevan paid £110 to someone who said they could restore the accounts within 25 minutes, but they turned out to be a scammer as well.

Bevan hadn’t properly enabled two-factor authentication on her Twitter accounts, it emerged. Twitter restored the accounts after a couple of days, but Bevan found messages from people asking about PS5s in her DMs, suggesting some fell foul of the scam.

Image credit BBC.

In a tweet, Bevan admitted she “didn’t necessarily make the best decisions”, but said she wanted to use her story to help others avoid a similar fate, saying: “Put 2-factor authentication on your Twitter account immediately… Don’t pay any ‘account recovery service’ – go through Twitter to get your account back.”

The supply-constrained PS5 is one of the most sought-after consumer electronics products in the world, and scams and scalpers have been an issue ever since the console launched last year.

In November eBay issued a warning to scammers who were selling photos of a PlayStation 5 on the auction website. In December, cops in Utah were alerted by a local resident who received a concrete brick instead of a new PS5.

PS5 scalpers have caused havoc with the console in recent months, too – so much so that MPs got involved. Earlier in March, UK retailer Currys launched a lottery system for the release of new PS5 stock.

Source: https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2021-03-20-nhs-execs-twitter-accounts-hacked-to-promote-ps5-scam