By Fawaz Adebisi
The Instagram account of White Money, the winner of the 2021 Big Brother Naija (BBNaija) show, has been hacked for the second time in a month, sparking outrage and suspicion among his fans and followers.
White Money, whose real name is Hazel Oyeze Onou, is one of the most popular and influential celebrities in Nigeria, with over 2 million followers on Instagram.
He rose to fame after winning the BBNaija All Stars season, which ended on October 1, 2023. He received a cash prize of N120 million, the highest ever in the history of BBNaija.
However, his social media presence has been under attack by unknown hackers who have taken over his Instagram account twice in a span of four weeks.
The first hacking occurred on August 8, 2023, when a foreign hacker claimed ownership of White Money’s account and deleted most of his posts.
The hacker also changed his username to “Hazel Oyeze Onou” and his bio to “I’m not White Money”.
White Money’s team was able to recover the account with the help of Instagram’s support team after a few days.
They also assured his fans that they were working to secure his account and prevent further attacks.
However, on September 5, 2023, White Money’s Instagram account was hacked again by a different hacker, who appeared to be a Caucasian male.
The hacker shared several photos of himself on White Money’s page and also deleted almost all of his previous posts, leaving only 62 out of over 2,000.
The hacker also wrote “by hacked @madnesp @samxkral” on the account’s story.
The motive behind the hacking remains unclear, but some fans have speculated that it could be an attempt to sabotage White Money’s career and reputation.
Some have also suggested that it could be a publicity stunt orchestrated by White Money himself or his rivals.
White Money’s team has not yet issued any statement regarding the latest hacking incident.
His fans have, therefore, taken to social media to express their anger and frustration over the security breach and demand answers from Instagram and the hackers. They have also launched a campaign to report and block the hacker’s accounts and restore White Money’s original account.
Some of the reactions from Twitter are:
@whitemoneyfan: This is unacceptable! How can someone hack White Money’s account twice in a month? Instagram should do something about this ASAP! #BringBackWhiteMoney
– @whitemoneylover: I’m so sad and angry right now. White Money doesn’t deserve this. He worked so hard to win BBNaija and now someone is trying to ruin his image. Who is behind this? #WhoHackedWhiteMoney
– @whitemoneyhater: I don’t believe this is a real hacking. I think White Money is doing this for attention and sympathy. He is so fake and manipulative. He should just admit that he is broke and desperate. #WhiteMoneyIsALiar
