Katy Perry Twitter account hacked by tweeter who sent homophobic and racist tweets

Perry has 89 million followers and is the most followed person on Twitter

Maya Oppenheim
Tuesday 31 May 2016 13:08 BST
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The alleged Hacker’s account remains active but does not appear to be fully operational
The alleged Hacker’s account remains active but does not appear to be fully operational (Getty Images)

Katy Perry's account has been hacked by an tweeter who sent homophobic and racist tweets. Perry is the most followed person on Twitter and has 89 million followers.

The hacker sent a number of profane, abusive and out-of-character tweets to Perry’s followers and tweeted a link to a SoundCloud track which is believed to be her unreleased song 'Witness'.

One tweet read, "u a f**" and another said "otf gang "n***a". Another tweet was aimed at her pop rival, Taylor Swift, telling her she missed her.

The tweets have since been deleted but screen grabs of them have been shared online.

The hacked account signed off with a tweet telling users to “follow @sw4ylol #hackersgonnahack”. This romanian-based account is believed to belong to the hacker responsible.

The alleged Hacker’s account remains active but does not appear to be fully operational; notifications for new tweets appear but then cannot be viewed. @sw4ylol has also tweeted a message from SoundCloud explaining that the track was taken down.

A representative for Twitter told The Independent they could not comment on individual accounts for privacy and security reasons. On Twitter’s security pages, the social media giant recommends users to use strong passwords, select third-party applications with care and keep their computer’s software up-to-date and virus free.

“We're working to improve our responses to security threats, but user accounts and computers can sometimes become compromised by phishing, hacks, or viruses,” a statement on their website reads.

Representatives for SoundCloud and Perry did not immediately respond to request for comment.

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