Microsoft's X Account Hijacked to Promote Clippy Meme Coin

It’s unclear why Microsoft deleted its lengthy apology tweet, but it covered a few key points:

• Microsoft said it never authorized anyone to promote a token using its intellectual property, including Clippy.
• It plans to pursue legal action to have the token and associated marketing removed.
• Its real MSFT ticker has nothing to do with any token carrying a similar name, which gives holders no ownership rights in Microsoft Corporation.

The token in question trades as CLIPPY, and an X account called Clippy MSFT has been one of its louder promoters, talking up liquidity pools reportedly worth over $200,000. Some promoters also claimed the pools were backed by actual Microsoft shares. That assertion, however, has not been verified—and even if true, there’s no official Microsoft link.

A Bigger Target in a Familiar Playbook

This is not the first time crypto scammers have used a Microsoft account. In 2024, attackers hijacked Microsoft India’s X account, which had more than 211,000 followers, to impersonate viral GameStop trader Keith “Roaring Kitty” Gill and push a fake Gamestop token presale built to drain wallets.

The hijack fits a pattern that has been climbing the ladder all year. In July, attackers took over Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev’s X account to promote a fake token called Vladhood, falsely billed as the official Robinhood Chain mascot.

Ten days before that, an apparently hacked account linked to Elon Musk’s SpaceX promoted a meme coin that was then shared by Starlink’s also-compromised X account. That token reached a $2 million market cap before crashing to zero.