Canadian Hockey Team’s X Account Hacked with Elon Musk Deepfake in Solana Crypto Scam Linked to Russia

Canucks X Account Hijacked Hours Before NHL Draft Lottery

Confusion swept across social media after the official X account of the Vancouver Canucks, one of Canada’s professional NHL ice hockey teams, began promoting a cryptocurrency presale on 5 May—just hours ahead of the NHL Draft Lottery.

The since-deleted post claimed the team had launched its own memecoin, $Canucks, on the Solana blockchain.

The message included details of a token sale capped at 1000 SOL and claimed all proceeds would be funnelled into a liquidity pool.

It boasted the Canucks were the “first NHL team to ever do this.”

Deepfake Elon Musk Video Promised $20 Million Giveaway

The situation escalated when the account posted a deepfake video of X owner Elon Musk, in which he announced a fake $20 million crypto giveaway linked to a website suspected of operating out of Russia.

The link redirected users to a fraudulent platform mimicking Musk’s branding.

Despite several attempts to remove the posts, they reappeared and were even pinned to the Canucks’ profile for nearly an hour.

The video was posted under a separate X post from US President Donald Trump, where hackers interacted with hockey-focused accounts to increase visibility.

Canucks PR Team says,

“Please Disregard Any Recent Posts.”

Shortly after the scam posts began circulating, Canucks Sports and Entertainment issued a warning:

“Please disregard any recent posts until further notice. We are working with the platform and the NHL to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.”

Craig MacEwen, Director of Communications for the Canucks, confirmed the account had been compromised.

Hackers Responded to Fans Posing as Canucks

Hackers maintained an active presence during the breach, replying directly to fans in an attempt to appear legitimate.

When one user asked, “Canucks twitter hacked?” the hijacked account replied: “Nope.”

Another fan joked, “Announce Hughes to NJ already,” to which the account responded, “Noted.”

The timing of the breach stirred further attention, with the team still reeling from a turbulent NHL season and recent coaching changes.

Head coach Rick Tocchet announced his departure just last week, fuelling fan speculation about potential team moves.

Similar Crypto Scam Hit Former Goalie Eddie Lack

The incident mirrors a recent hack involving former Canucks goaltender Eddie Lack.

His X account, which has over 140,000 followers, was taken over and rebranded to push a similar cryptocurrency scam.

Lack has yet to regain access.

While the $Canucks token and Musk video may have fooled some users, the episode serves as another reminder of the growing risks tied to high-profile account breaches.