Ava Labs Executive's X Account Allegedly Hacked, Promotes Dubious Memecoin

Ava Labs’ chief operating officer, Luigi D’Onorio DeMeo, appears to have had his X account compromised after posts emerged promoting a newly launched Pokémon-themed memecoin, along with links to questionable airdrops.

Dubious Promotions

On 19 August, two now-deleted posts from DeMeo’s account referenced a Solana-based memecoin named Pika (PIKA), styled after Pikachu, a character from the Pokémon franchise. These posts seemed to push a pump-and-dump scheme, encouraging followers to invest in the token.

Market Impact

Following the posts, PIKA’s market cap spiked to $388,570, only to plummet by over 99%, settling at $3,289. This sharp decline suggests a likely scam, a common occurrence in the crypto space.

PIKA’s market cap saw activity surge around DeMeo’s X posts but quickly dropped. Source: DEX Screener

Fake Giveaways

Additionally, DeMeo’s account shared links to websites mimicking Ava Labs’ design, falsely claiming to offer free Avalanche tokens. These sites likely contained wallet-draining software, which can empty the connected wallets of all their cryptocurrency. DeMeo’s account disabled comments on these posts, possibly to prevent warnings from other users.

Similar Attacks

This is not an isolated incident. In July, actress Sydney Sweeney’s X account was similarly compromised to promote a fraudulent crypto token using her likeness.