Nick Robinson says social media was hacked as his ‘defences were down’
On BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he said his account had been hacked to promote cryptocurrency.
BBC journalist Nick Robinson has said his social media was hacked as his “defences were down” after “a very long day”.
The BBC Radio 4 Today programme presenter, 61, said on the show that he had become locked out of his X, formerly Twitter, account on Monday night and has been prevented from accessing it.
He told his co-host, Amol Rajan, that the hackers posted “complete nonsense” about him launching a new cryptocurrency.
Speaking about why he fell for the scam, he told the BBC: “Why? Because my defences were down – I was tired after a very long day, I was rushing, and the phishing email made me think that if I didn’t act fast I’d be in trouble.
“However, I didn’t just fall for it. I tried repeatedly to use the official authentic X site to deal with the problem I was being alerted to, and only after trying again and again and failing did I think ‘oh sod it, what’s the worst that can happen?’
“Well now I know. I should have thought the opposite – ie. if this alleged problem is really serious they’ll be in touch again.”
He added: “My main mistake was not to check the email address which made clear it wasn’t X that were contacting me but a hacker. Everything else looked just like the real thing.”
Rajan was on the Today programme speaking about the chief executive officer of OpenAI, Sam Altman, saying no to selling his artificial intelligence (AI) company to Tesla Motors chief executive and X owner Elon Musk.
Altman has also offered to buy X for less than Musk paid for it.
Rajan said: “Life comes at you fast and very digitally when you’re a tech bro and meanwhile, also on Twitter/X, my very own tech bro, the mighty Nick Robinson, has finally succumbed to the temptations online, and I see overnight, is launching a cryptocurrency.
“This is the big news in Britain, and what listeners want to know Nick is, how do they invest?”
Robinson replied saying “you’re not the only one who discovered this last night”, adding: “I was woken up at about 11 o’clock to find that I had accidentally tweeted to a million people that I was indeed launching a new cryptocurrency called ‘dollar today’ on something called Solana, which you no doubt know about, but I thought was probably one of those drinks that you give to kids after they’ve been swimming.
“Yeah, I’ve been hacked on my Twitter account. So if you read that, it’s complete nonsense, quite entertaining nonsense.
“Actually, it (the cryptocurrency) says that, it’s more than a token, it’s a way for our listeners to come together, celebrate innovation, and be part of something bigger. I’m still locked out of my account, so anything you read today, it won’t be me, but there’s a lesson learned.”
Rajan appeared to jokingly point out it might be because of Robinson “having a bit of a go at Elon Musk”.
Robinson replied: “It was absolutely clear that Mr Musk’s American supporters had taken a personal animus because I had been swamped by critical messages after I pointed out that what Mr Musk said on air, that the BBC takes money from USAID (United States Agency for International Development), an organisation he’s dismantling, is simply not true.
“The BBC charity called BBC Media Action, which helps tackle disinformation around the world, does indeed take some money from other charitable sources and USAID.
“The BBC news organisation and the BBC overall does not. Anyway, there we are, that didn’t make me very popular.”
Robinson, a former BBC political editor, is also a presenter on BBC Radio 4 show Political Thinking, and presents The Today Podcast with Rajan.
Musk, who is leading the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), is trying to dismantle USAID, and compared it to a “bowl of worms” during a recent interview.
