Lucy Powell’s X account hacked in crypto scam

Lucy Powell, the UK government minister and Leader of the House of Commons, had her X account hacked on Tuesday morning to promote a fake cryptocurrency named ‘House of Commons Coin’ or $HCC.

The now-deleted posts claimed it was a ‘community-driven digital currency’ and featured the official House of Commons logo, misleading her nearly 70,000 followers. Her office confirmed the hack and said steps were taken quickly to remove the scam posts and secure the account.

The incident mirrors a growing trend where cyber criminals hijack high-profile accounts to advertise bogus crypto tokens. Instead of developing legitimate coins, fraudsters use phishing emails or leaked credentials to gain control, then post about hastily launched schemes designed to profit from users’ trust.

These coins are often promoted as community initiatives but vanish as soon as the creators cash out, a method known as ‘pump and dump’. In this case, analysts say only 34 transactions occurred, with a profit of just £225.

The UK Parliament stressed that cyber security is taken seriously and that MPs are advised on how to protect their accounts. Action Fraud reports over 35,000 incidents of hacked social or email accounts this year, urging users to adopt two-step verification and strong, unique passwords.

BBC journalist Nick Robinson experienced a similar hack earlier in the year, after falling for a fake message that led to posts promoting a coin called ‘$Today’ instead of anything legitimate.

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