In an alarming testament to the perils of the digital age, leading American sports organizations NASCAR and the NBA have been victims of a malicious online scam. The culprits? Cybercriminals who managed to breach the social media accounts of these billion-dollar sports leagues, leaving many startled and concerned.
A quick dive into the ordeal reveals that an unexpected post on NASCAR’s social media account, boasting a following of over 3.6 million fans, caught the audience’s attention on March 4. The message, which seemed entirely out of the blue, was an advertisement for a new NASCAR-themed cryptocurrency, dubbed as the “$NASCAR Token.” The supposed digital asset of motorsports, built on the Solana network, was marketed to enhance fan engagement, rewards, and exclusive experiences.
However, NASCAR wasn’t the lone victim of this digital charade. In an even more astounding revelation, the NBA, with its massive social media presence of 48.1 million followers, was revealed to have fallen prey to a similar scam. A post on its account, released earlier at 2:45 PM ET, claimed the launch of the $NBA Coin, yet another cryptocurrency under the Solana network.
In an immediate response to these dubious posts, both NASCAR and the NBA took swift action to delete the posts within minutes of their appearance. Both organizations confirmed the posts were the result of cyber-attacks – a worrisome trend that has been on the rise. This isn’t the first instance of such a cyber onslaught on popular sports leagues. A similar incident occurred at the end of the 2022 MLB lockout when ESPN MLB Insider Jeff Passan’s social media account was compromised to promote NFTs. More recently, NASCAR’s official radio channels at Atlanta Motor Speedway were hacked, resulting in an unwarranted broadcast of a fervent Kyle Larson fan’s rant.
The unexpected cryptocurrency scam has sent shockwaves through both sports organizations, but it’s interesting to note that the NBA had a previous encounter with digital trading. The NBA had launched NBA Top Shot in 2021, a blockchain-based platform that allows fans to buy, sell, and trade unique versions of officially licensed video highlights. The platform, which became a huge success, marked the rise of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) – virtual assets that cannot be duplicated or stolen. This might have made some NBA fans more susceptible to believing the fraudulent social media post about the $NBA Coin.
The popularity of NBA Top Shot was evident when a video of a Zion Williamson block sold for a staggering $100,000 in January 2021. The platform managed to rake in $255 million within a month from collectors buying digital NBA highlight clips. The NBA’s Blockchain Advisory Committee, which includes Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, has been vocal about the importance of NFTs, emphasizing that the joy of ownership is what truly matters, even if the asset is not physically tangible.
However, the recent malicious posts on NASCAR and NBA’s social media accounts were nothing more than a hoax. The incident serves as a stern reminder of the ever-present threat of cybercrime in our increasingly digital world. As we move forward, let’s hope that both these sporting leagues, along with others, take the necessary precautions to prevent falling prey to such cyber threats in the future. The digital age, while offering immense opportunities, comes with its own set of challenges that need to be astutely navigated.
