The compromise of An Garda Síochána's X accounts shows how crypto phishing campaigns now target high-trust institutional handles rather than only retail users, since a verified police badge lends false legitimacy to fraudulent XRP "claim" links. The attackers' removal of badge logos, relocation of profile locations to Amsterdam, and rapid posting spree suggest a coordinated account takeover rather than a single credential leak, though Irish police have only confirmed they are aware of the incident and have not yet detailed how access was obtained. The practical risk is concentrated in the roughly 900,000 combined followers of GardaTraffic and GardaInfo, who may treat the posts as official guidance. Watch for the police's promised investigation statement, whether X restores verification and confirms the scope of the breach, and whether similar government or law-enforcement accounts are hit in the same campaign.
PANews, October 15 — Multiple official X accounts under Ireland's national police force (An Garda Síochána) are suspected of having been hijacked and used to promote cryptocurrency. The affected accounts include the official traffic safety account GardaTraffic, which has around 600,000 followers, and the general government affairs account GardaInfo, which has nearly 300,000 followers.
The attack occurred on Wednesday evening. The hackers not only removed the accounts' official police badge logos but also changed the account profile locations to Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and posted a flurry of tweets promoting crypto assets, including phishing content that lured users into claiming XRP quotas. At present, some of the offending tweets have been flagged with warnings by the platform. Irish police responded that they have taken note of the security incident and will issue an official investigation statement later.
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