American actor Dean Norris was a recent victim of a hacking incident where scammers utilized his X (formerly Twitter) account to endorse a fraudulent meme coin bearing his name. Norris, renowned for his portrayal of Hank Schrader in Breaking Bad, disassociated himself from the project, confirming that DEAN was a scam.

Norris took to X on January 26 to refute any connections to the DEAN meme coin, clarifying that he had been a victim of hacking and that the entire crypto affair was a hoax. He urged individuals to disregard the meme coin and revealed his distress over unfounded accusations on Reddit, mentioning his infrequent use of the platform.

After discovering the hack through messages from friends, Norris promptly reported the breach to X, which was resolved. He also highlighted that some accounts accusing him of falsehood were complicit in promoting the scam.

The incident initiated when Norris’ account posted a message promoting the launch of a new cryptocurrency, DEAN, along with the contract address. The hackers further disseminated a manipulated image of Norris holding a notepad displaying the coin’s symbol and a date. A counterfeit video was also shared where Norris purportedly endorsed the coin's authenticity, which he denounces.

Numerous DEAN meme coins, some only days old, were still accessible in the market at the time of reporting. Norris adds to the growing list of individuals targeted by crypto scams, underscoring a worrying trend in the sector.

On the other hand, Ki Young Ju, CEO of CryptoQuant, defended meme coins against the prevailing notion of being scams, drawing parallels to the valuation process in the art market. He anticipates the evolution of the meme coin market to a more sophisticated stage by 2030, despite existing challenges.