On Wednesday, users of the social media platform X were briefly shocked to see a cryptocurrency “airdrop” post appear on the verified account of Andreessen Horowitz. A subsequent tweet claimed that $5 million had already been distributed.

The account, which has a substantial following of 851,000 users, was quickly flagged by a member of a16z’s crypto team, who warned others not to engage with the post. The suspicious post was swiftly removed by X. Typically, airdrops are utilized by cryptocurrencies as a means of self-promotion.

In a statement to TechCrunch, a16z explained that their X account had been briefly compromised, resulting in the promotion of a token and other fictitious content that did not originate from the company. They apologized for any confusion caused by the temporary takeover of their account, attributing it to malicious actors.

As a prominent investor in the crypto space, Andreessen Horowitz is well-known for its significant investments in the industry. This led to a wave of jokes and cautionary tweets, with many warning that the link likely aimed to drain cryptocurrency wallets rather than add to them. The general consensus was that if an offer seems too good to be true, such as a venture capital firm giving away valuable assets, it is likely a scam.

Examples of the scam tweets are shown below: