Dejan Horvat posted:

“I almost got hacked today — twice.”

What unfolded wasn’t a clumsy phishing e-mail from a random spammer — it was business as usual: connection → calendar invite → a “Zoom link” for a meeting. On the surface, everything looked legitimate — mutual contacts, correct industry context, familiar workflow.

But the Zoom link redirected to a fake domain. A prompt asked to download a small executable (an “audio-permission fix”). That file was malware. One click, and Dejan’s system, credentials, corporate access — everything — could’ve been compromised. He caught it just in time. View Post

Pramendra Yadav experienced something even more insidious: a full account takeover. Overnight, his profile was hijacked. Same name. Same history. Same network. Suddenly, his identity became a vehicle for scams — fake messages, phishing attempts, maybe fraudulent outreach — all sent under his name. View Post

In that moment, not just Pramendra — everyone connected with him became vulnerable: co-founders, investors, vendors, anyone who trusted the profile.

Then there’s Vinayak Dhemare — who shared publicly that his account was taken over by attackers. Someone got control of his profile and began acting as him. Suddenly, a trusted founder identity became a tool for scams — fake outreach, suspicious messages, or harmful links sent to his own network. When a real account is hijacked, people don’t question it. They trust the name and respond normally. That’s what makes this so dangerous: the attacker doesn’t need to trick anyone — the founder’s reputation does the work for them. View Post

Mayank Goel – Founder of Growzzy Media faced a more destructive outcome. He received a business inquiry from someone posing as an HR representative at Chevrolet — complete with a polished email and campaign brief. When he opened the attached PDF, unfamiliar applications began installing on his system. Within moments, his LinkedIn profile was hijacked, his feed wiped clean, and nearly a year of content permanently lost. Even after multiple attempts to secure the account, the intruder retained deeper access than platform support initially detected. The attacker then used his profile to execute the same scam on others, endangering his brand and credibility. View Post

A robotics entrepreneur, Rushikesh Bagul , recently fell victim to a targeted phishing attack that resulted in the complete loss of his LinkedIn account and personal content history. Attackers locked him out, deleted his posts, and removed years of documentation — including robotics projects he had proudly shared, startup milestones, and professional updates. Although platform support eventually helped restore his access, the deleted content could not be recovered. Connections remained, but the digital narrative he had built to establish credibility in the robotics and startup ecosystem was erased. The attacker also used his account to send malicious messages to his network, forcing him to issue a public apology and reminder for others to stay vigilant. The incident left him rebuilding his professional identity from scratch — proof that a founder’s digital presence is fragile and can be wiped out faster than it was created. View Post

Another founder, Jagadish Ram Need it international, also reported a takeover of his LinkedIn account. Attackers leveraged his digital identity to send deceptive messages to his contacts while blocking him out. After regaining access and enabling multi-factor authentication, he was forced to alert his network to ignore any suspicious communication — a necessary step, but one that cannot undo the damage already caused during the attacker’s control window. View Post

These aren’t fringe cases. They show a new kind of threat: trusted-identity scams, post-fundraise phishing, and hijacked founder profiles.