Austin Restaurant Franklin Barbecue’s Twitter Account Was Hacked

Famed Austin restaurant Franklin Barbecue had its Twitter hacked in late November. The social media account was taken over by one thing referred to as “Blockchain Underdogs,” which claimed that it has been “supporting underdog tech startups since eternally.”

Eater Austin reached out to Twitter, and a rep shared that they “reached out on to the account proprietor to assist them regain entry,” this afternoon. The hacked account that had been working beneath the title @underdogsbc is now gone, and Franklin Barbecue’s Twitter account at @FranklinBBQ is in the midst of being restored.

The hack occurred on November 24, in accordance with co-owner Stacy Franklin. When she and co-owner Aaron Franklin realized what had occurred, they “tried to log in and alter the password,” Stacy says, “however the hacker had already modified the e-mail tackle on file.” They reached out to Twitter a number of occasions to get this mounted, however haven’t heard something.

Whereas the hack occurred simply earlier than Thanksgiving, it fell beneath the radar till Austin barbecue author Jimmy Ho observed the compromised Twitter account this week and tweeted about it on December 9. The subsequent day, Texas Month-to-month barbecue editor Daniel Vaughn likewise shared that the account was taken over by “some pathetic fraudsters.”

As a part of the hack, Blockchain Underdogs modified the title of the Twitter account from @FranklinBBQ to @underdogsbc. Somebody who observed what had occurred saved the original account handle for the Franklins on December 9. “A really sort Austinite grabbed the deal with,” says Franklin, “and has handed it over to us.”

All of Franklin’s Twitter followers and previous tweets had still existed on the hacked account. Franklin shared that they have been not likely updating Twitter at this level (their final tweet was in April), “so now we’re just about finished” with utilizing the social media web site. She famous that the hack isn’t impacting enterprise. “Simply getting a lot of emails,” she stated, “however there may be nothing we are able to do.”

It’s doable that whoever or no matter is behind Blockchain Underdogs hacked the Franklin Barbecue account as a result of they have been after the restaurant’s followers checklist in an effort to rip-off individuals. That’s what occurred with the accounts of several famous people over the summer, together with now-Texas resident Elon Musk and president-elect Joe Biden, the place the accounts requested followers to ship them bitcoins. In response, Twitter froze these compromised accounts and simply straight-up temporarily blocked new tweets from all verified accounts all through the location.

Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, and blockchain is a solution to monitor the digital foreign money by way of a central system, or, as Euromoney Learning describes, a “digital ledger of transactions.” Blockchain Underdogs doesn’t appear to exist anyplace else.

Eater has reached out to the Blockchain Underdogs account.

Screenshot/Twitter

Screenshot/Twitter

Extra reporting by Erin Russell.

Replace, 3:45 p.m.: This text, initially revealed on December 11 at 1:38 p.m., has been up to date to replicate that Franklin Barbecue’s account is being restored and to incorporate Twitter’s feedback.