Has this Twitter account been hacked?

[Wrichik Basu]

I don't post a lot on Twitter, but I do follow numerous people, mostly physicists in my field of interest, so that I can stay up to date on the latest research in the field. The account I am referring to is one such account. I don't know the user personally, but they are an established physicist at Fermilab, and a number of other eminent physicists and organizations follow him, including Short Baseline Near Detector, CLIC, STFC Particle Physics, MicroBoone and even PF. (Hence, tagging @Greg Bernhardt if he can throw some light.)

I know threads in General Discussion are not crawled by search engines, but even then, I am not posting the link to the account in question. Just go to Twitter and search for this: <at> j l y k k e n Do remove the space and replace the symbol as usual.

This person contacted me via private message a day back asking "Hello Man, how are you doing today?" I responded, stating that I am fine, and hope they are doing well too! The next question was, "How is your week going?" A bit informal question to ask a stranger, but I responded with "The usual routine." Next question: "How was work?" At this point, I thought they must have confused me for someone else, as my profile clearly states that I am a student. So, I wrote along the lines of "I am a student and do not work. Studies + work cannot be really done in my country etc."

Now they asked, "What about investments?" I stopped replying.

There is definitely something wrong here. Why would an established physicist from Fermilab, without any context, ask me about my investments? This is undoubtedly something no one is eager to share with anyone else.

Is their account hacked? Apparently, they posted last in December 2022.

Not saying that I will be sharing anything if the account is not hacked, but still curious why someone would ask such a question. Is this type of question in a first-time conversation common in Europe/USA?

 

[phinds]

Is this type of question in a first-time conversation common in Europe/USA?

Absolutely not, asking about your investments.

 

[jack action]

Ask him directly: https://cms.fnal.gov/joseph-lykken/

 

[Wrichik Basu]

Ask him directly: https://cms.fnal.gov/joseph-lykken/

That's what I thought initially, but if the account is not hacked and he himself did it, I don't know how he would take the email.

 

[Wrichik Basu]

Sent an email anyway.

 

[phinds]

That's what I thought initially, but if the account is not hacked and he himself did it, I don't know how he would take the email.

No reliable correspondent would be asking you about investments just out of the blue. It's an intro to a scam.

 

[Archiemedes]

Yes, the account `@jlykken` has been hijacked. There is a new Twitter handle `@jlykken2` from the same person that verified the hijack!

 

[Wrichik Basu]

And Twitter seems to have suspended the hijacked account.

 

[Archiemedes]

Yes, it is really sad to see that some people are trying to scam people in the guise of a well-known Physicist. He too is also a serious victim here. We have to keep in mind that He is 65 and has an illustrious career.

 

[Wrichik Basu]

Yes, it is really sad to see that some people are trying to scam people in the guise of a well-known Physicist. He too is also a serious victim here. We have to keep in mind that He is 65 and has an illustrious career.

2FA is very essential nowadays, especially if you are a famous figure.

 

[phinds]

2FA is very essential nowadays, especially if you are a famous figure.

2FA ???

 

[berkeman]

2FA ???

I'm guessing Two Factor Authentication, like after you enter your password, a code is sent to your cell phone for you to type in to finish your login...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-factor_authentication

 

[Wrichik Basu]

2FA ???

I'm guessing Two Factor Authentication, like after you enter your password, a code is sent to your cell phone for you to type in to finish your login...

Yeah, 2-factor authentication. Either via text message or from an authenticator app.