"Even my mum rang me": Professional footballer hacked on Instagram and blackmailed

Rot-Weiß Erfurt was briefly abuzz after a sudden, unexpected deposit appeared in the club's bank account, but it quickly emerged that the mysterious crypto post from Raphael Assibey-Mensah was linked to a cyber-attack and an extortion attempt.

Raphael Assibey-Mensah of the long-established Thuringian club Rot-Weiß Erfurt has revealed that his personal Instagram account was targeted in a malicious cyber-attack.

The story began with a post that sent shockwaves through his followers. In it, the Leipzig native boasted a huge cryptocurrency windfall.

The success story was backed up by what appeared to be a screenshot of a transaction on his Sparkasse account. But appearances were deceiving.

While his followers were still puzzling over the striker's sudden windfall, Assibey-Mensah had already lost control of his digital persona. The professional only realised the full extent of the incident when his private circle reacted.

"Even my mum rang me, thinking I'd started trading currencies," the striker explains. "But I'd fallen victim to a scam."

The hacker had done a thorough job and completely locked the footballer out. At times, Assibey-Mensah could only watch helplessly as his own profile was tampered with.

"I didn't get back in until later, and even then my access was restricted," he adds. His vigilance and network quickly exposed the fake content. "Lots of people called and messaged me, but I don't do that sort of business at all," he states unequivocally.

The story exploded when the attackers, far from stopping at mere account takeover, tried to capitalise on the RWE pro's plight by issuing outright blackmail. They miscalculated, however, because the player refused to back down.

Thanks to multi-factor authentication, Assibey-Mensah eventually regained control of his digital assets. In the process, he uncovered a crucial detail: the phone number linked to the suspected perpetrator. He called the number that had been provided during the account-recovery process. The hacker brazenly demanded payment, but the professional footballer stood firm.

"I now know who's behind it. I contacted the person via the number provided – they wanted money from me," he said of his direct with the other side. "When I saw the number during recovery, I called it. He wanted money, but I refused on the spot. Later, I asked again if he still wanted payment—and laughed at him," Assibey-Mensah explained.

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