Poker Writer
An odd phishing scam has seemingly overtaken the poker community on X after several pros’ accounts were compromised.
Todd Witteles of PokerFraudAlert sounded the alarm on the matter, saying accounts were getting hit at a “rapid pace.” While phishing scams have hit poker players on social media before, this particular epidemic seems to be among the most concentrated and prevalent yet.
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Phishing Mechanics
Witteles cited the example of Spanish pro Ana Marquez sending DMs asking others to “vote” for something. In this case, a poker podcast, even if the player does not have one. The voting process requires a log-in. After one enters their information, the scammers have the key info they need. They then send malicious links to that person’s contacts.
The best advice is simply not to click on any link that these supposed poker pros send you. Witteles also provides a step-by-step process on how victims can recover their accounts.
Marquez and Jacobson Promoting Crypto
A look at Marquez’s account shows that she made a normal poker-related post on Aug. 21. Then, on Aug. 24, she made a suspicious post promoting crypto.
I’ve been grinding in crypto for a bit now, and it’s finally starting to show. Treated myself to a brand new AMG, and it feels unreal. Big shoutout to my coach @OliviaCapital for the guidance seriously couldn’t have pulled this off without her.
The post links to “Olivia Sterling,” a 23K-follower account based in England that focuses on trading crypto. The account’s posts are protected, so it is unknown whether the account is behind the phishing attempt or has also been compromised.
Marquez’s post also includes an odd picture of her with a truck, which could be AI-generated or photoshopped, as it does not exactly look like Marquez.
Former World Series of Poker main event champion Martin Jacobson appears to be another victim of these same phishers. He has a post on X that is almost identical to the one from Marquez. The post is nearly identical, but slight tweaks to the wording suggest it was likely run through an AI filter to slightly alter it.
Like Marquez, Jacobson thanks the unknown Sterling character and also has a strange-looking picture of himself near a new car. In both cases, the posts have public comments turned off, allowing only some accounts to interact with them.
In Marquez’s case, it was not an attack on an inactive account, as she is a fairly regular X user with more than 10,000 followers who posts every few days, usually about online poker events.
Motivations of the Scammers
The motivation behind the phishing scam is likely to try to get people to transfer money or provide vital personal information. Their hope is that someone will be fooled by an apparently legitimate-looking account asking them for a favor with a “vote.” The vast majority of people immediately recognize the scam and don’t pay it any mind. But all the scammers need is a small percentage to fall for it.
Money scammers are very common on social media and have been present in poker before. Similar schemes involving compromised poker players’ accounts have occurred before with DMs on platforms such as Skype and WhatsApp. On some occasions, players have noticed it and sent a warning to their followers that it is absolutely not them who is sending cold DMs asking for favors.
