Breaking Bad’s Dean Norris Issues Warning After Hackers Promote Fake DEAN Coin on X

American actor Dean Norris recently fell victim to a hacking incident. Scammers used his X (formerly Twitter) account to promote a fraudulent meme coin named after him. 

Norris, best known for his role as Hank Schrader in Breaking Bad, has denounced the project. He declared that DEAN is a scam.

Dean Norris’ X Account Hacked to Promote Fake Meme Coin

On January 26, Norris posted a video on X clarifying the rumors of his association with the DEAN meme coin.

“Hey, this is Dean Norris, actually, and that whole crazy crypto shit was a complete fake scam. I was hacked, and I just got it back,” Norris said.

The actor urged people to ignore the meme coin, clarifying that he had been hacked and that the situation was all a scam. He expressed frustration over the accusations directed at him on Reddit and noted that he rarely uses the platform.

“I didn’t know I was hacked until I started getting texts from friends saying its out there. I immediately reported to X and was resolved,” Norris wrote on X.

He also pointed out that some accounts accusing him of lying were actually involved in promoting the scam.

The incident began when Norris’ account posted a message announcing the launch of a new cryptocurrency, DEAN, along with the contract address. In addition, the hackers shared a manipulated image of Norris holding a notepad with the coin’s symbol and a date written on it. 

They also posted a fake video in which Norris appeared to confirm the coin’s legitimacy. 

“Hey, it’s me, Dean, and on January 25th, I’m declaring it’s real,” the video falsely claimed. 

At the time of reporting, several DEAN meme coins—some only a day or two old—remained available for trading in the market.

Norris joins a long list of people who have fallen victim to crypto scams. Hackers recently targeted Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro’s account to promote the BRAZIL meme coin. Furthermore, after the launch of the TRUMP meme coin, scammers exploited $857.5 million in a single week.

That’s not all. BeInCrypto reported earlier that crypto scams have been on the rise, contributing an estimated $834.5 million in 2024 alone.

Meme Coin Market: Not a Scam!

Despite this, Ki Young Ju, CEO of CryptoQuant, defied the idea of meme coins being a scam. He compared the valuation of meme coins to that of the art market, where value is built through narrative.

“If the very foundation of the meme coin market is considered a scam, then, by the same logic, the art market must also be viewed as a scam,” Yu posted on X.

While the hype around meme coins may fade, Ju believes the market will evolve into a more mature form by 2030.

“I acknowledge meme coins have lots of problems right now but wanted to point out that their ultimate future may not be zero,” he wrote.