Verify a decision

{"actor":"system:backfill","investigation_id":"bd93d224-985e-4ebc-ae8a-be2a7da9c5f3","kind":"publish","page_slug":"nelly","published_at":"2026-05-19T15:18:34.759Z","sequence_num":1,"snapshot":{"content_type":"investigation","entity_name":"Nelly","sections":[{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[]}],"sources_used":[{"credibility":2,"name":"X account tied to rapper Nelly compromised, used for crypto phishing scam — The Block","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.theblock.co/post/258064/us-rapper-nellys-x-account-compromised-crypto-phishing-scams"},{"credibility":2,"name":"American Rapper Nelly's X Account Reportedly Hacked and Involved in Crypto Phishing Scheme — CryptoPotato","type":"news_article","url":"https://cryptopotato.com/american-rapper-nellys-x-account-reportedly-hacked-and-involved-in-crypto-phishing-scheme/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Account tied to rapper Nelly compromised, used for crypto phishing scam — Crypto.news","type":"news_article","url":"https://crypto.news/account-tied-to-rapper-nelly-compromised-used-for-crypto-phishing-scam/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Rapper Nelly's X Account Got Hacked, Used For Phishing Scam — The Crypto Times","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.cryptotimes.io/2023/10/18/rapper-nellys-x-account-got-hacked-used-for-phishing-scam/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Popular Rapper's X Profile Hacked to Promote Crypto Phishing Site — CryptoNews","type":"news_article","url":"https://cryptonews.com/news/popular-rappers-x-profile-hacked-promote-crypto-phishing-site/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"ZachXBT Connects Social Media Hacks to $3.5M Celebrity Meme Coin Scam — CryptoPotato","type":"news_article","url":"https://cryptopotato.com/zachxbt-connects-social-media-hacks-to-3-5m-celebrity-meme-coin-scam/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Crypto phishing attacks drained nearly $300 million in 2023: Scam Sniffer — The Block","type":"research","url":"https://www.theblock.co/post/270105/crypto-phishing-attacks-2023"}],"summary":"Rapper Nelly (Cornell Iral Haynes Jr.) is flagged here not as a perpetrator of crypto fraud, but as a victim of an account compromise. In October 2023, an X (formerly Twitter) account associated with Nelly — handle @NellioETH — was hacked by an unknown third party who then used it to run a social engineering phishing campaign against crypto users. Blockchain investigator ZachXBT first identified and publicized the incident; specific amounts stolen from victims and detailed on-chain forensics have not been publicly confirmed.","timeline":[{"date":"2023-10-18","event":"X account @NellioETH, associated with rapper Nelly, is compromised by an unknown threat actor. ZachXBT identifies and publicly reports the phishing campaign via Telegram. Multiple crypto news outlets publish coverage the same day.","source":"","source_url":"https://www.theblock.co/post/258064/us-rapper-nellys-x-account-compromised-crypto-phishing-scams"},{"date":"2023-10-18","event":"Scam Sniffer publicly denies affiliation with @NellioETH on X, confirming the account is fraudulent and urging users to use only scamsniffer.io.","source":"","source_url":"https://crypto.news/account-tied-to-rapper-nelly-compromised-used-for-crypto-phishing-scam/"},{"date":"2023-10-18","event":"@NellioETH account is suspended or deleted by X; the profile returns a 'does not exist' message at time of reporting.","source":"","source_url":"https://cryptopotato.com/american-rapper-nellys-x-account-reportedly-hacked-and-involved-in-crypto-phishing-scheme/"},{"date":"2024-08-01","event":"A separate but related pattern of celebrity account hacks for meme coin pump-and-dump schemes begins, documented by ZachXBT, ultimately accounting for at least $3.5 million in losses across multiple celebrities including Usher and Wiz Khalifa. This campaign is distinct from the 2023 Nelly hack.","source":"","source_url":"https://cryptopotato.com/zachxbt-connects-social-media-hacks-to-3-5m-celebrity-meme-coin-scam/"}]},"v":1}