Hackers Promote Fake Crypto From TV Star Dean Norris’ Compromised X Account

Breaking Bad TV series fame Dean Norris, who played the role as Hank Schrader, claimed that his X account was hacked to promote fame memecoin. The celebrity became the target of Twitter scam for the second time in past six months.

This time, hackers took control of his account and launched his official memecoin dubbed DEAN. At first, the coin experienced a significant surge, soaring to over $7 million market cap before crashing 95%, per DexScreener.

“I’ve decided to launch my own crypto coin named $Dean,” the now-deleted fake promotion read, along with the contract address.

The perpetrators also shared an image of Norris holding a notepad with a scrawling on the launch date and the memecoin symbol.

One user posted the screenshot of the original post and wrote that this was one of the “most believable” scams.

One of the most believable hackings/scams I’ve seen on here. They had a follow up tweet ready with a photoshopped notepad to “validate” it, had a cameo purchased of Dean Norris saying “Hey it’s me, Dean, it’s January 25th, I’m declaring, it’s real” https://t.co/dz5RYbh2U0 pic.twitter.com/BGF1xvtCls

— Tyler (@CowboysIn4) January 26, 2025

Notably, the hacker paid Norris for a video on Cameo platform, where users pay celebrities for customized videos.

“They had a follow up tweet ready with a photoshopped notepad to “validate” it, had a cameo purchased of Dean Norris saying “Hey it’s me, Dean, it’s January 25th, I’m declaring, it’s real,” the user wrote on X.

Dean Norris Reacts, Confirms Memecoin is a “Complete Fake Scam”

Norris took to X hours later to confirm that the promotion was fake and that his account was hacked.

“Hey, this is Dean Norris, actually, and that whole crazy crypto shit was a complete fake scam. I was hacked and I just got it back,” he said in the video.

pic.twitter.com/J646HHfPiq

— Dean Norris (@deanjnorris) January 26, 2025

Users blamed the Breaking Bad star that he should have been more careful in talking about “DeanNorrisofficial” channel, which made hackers easy to manipulate for the scam.

However, in a follow-up statement, Norris confirmed that he does not have a Telegram account. He further added that he rarely user X and was unaware that he was hacked.

“Since I don’t spend my life on twitter like these other folks, I rarely use it, I didn’t know I was hacked until I started getting texts from friends saying its out there. I immediately reported to X and was resolved.”

And another thing, since I don't spend my life on twitter like these other folks, I rarely use it, I didn't know I was hacked until I started getting texts from friends saying its out there. I immediately reported to X and was resolved.
I clicked on a couple accounts accusing me…

— Dean Norris (@deanjnorris) January 26, 2025

In September 2024, a similar hack occurred on his social media platform, promoting SCHRADER memecoin. According to onchain sleuth ZachXBT, a former professional Fortnite player and blockchain security analyst from Australia was involved in memecoin scams, “directly connected” to multiple account takeovers, including Dean Norris.