Microsoft's X account hijacked in scam promoting fake $CLIPPY token

TechRadar reported that the attackers created a Clippy X account called @ClippyMSFTCo and posted a call to action: “How many likes to bring Clippy back? @microsoft give us a number, please.” They then used Microsoft's hijacked account to retweet the post to its roughly 13 million followers.

The fraudsters deleted the original post and issued a fake apology. In it, they wrote that Microsoft was aware of a cryptocurrency token being promoted in connection with $MSFT stock, including unauthorized use of the Clippy brand and Microsoft-related intellectual property, according to TechRadar. The post said Microsoft had not authorized, sponsored, endorsed or granted permission for the creation, promotion or use of any cryptocurrency token associated with Clippy, Microsoft or $MSFT. It was later deleted as well.

X later disabled @ClippyMSFTCo. Researchers from Cybernews then found another account, @ClippyMSFT, still promoting the $CLIPPY token, TechRadar reported. One tweet from the account claimed the token “has a liquidity pool paired directly with $MSFT.” Another promoted software that allows users to “build their own Clippy,” which TechRadar said sounded like a way to distribute malware, possibly a cryptocurrency stealer.

Microsoft spokesperson Brent Colburn told media, including TechRadar: “We have confirmed unauthorized access to our account on X, including posts that did not come from Microsoft.” He added: “The account has been secured and the unauthorized posts have been removed, and we are continuing to investigate the circumstances.”

TechRadar placed the scam in the context of meme coins, obscure tokens that emerge quickly with online trends and often disappear just as fast. The report cited SQUID, a token that appeared while Squid Game was popular and peaked at around $2,800 per token before collapsing to $0.0008 within minutes, and HAWK, which lost about 90% of its value almost immediately after launch. While not always a rule, TechRadar said such coins are often scams in which community members buy tokens, allowing creators to extract value before disappearing.

Clippy itself was discontinued a few years after its introduction for being practically useless and annoying, according to TechRadar. It later became an internet meme and a fondly remembered symbol of a warmer, more humane time in computing, particularly compared with modern AI agents. That nostalgia was used in the scam, the report said.