Shortly after midnight on January 25, the Instagram account of Trinity College Meeting (TCM), Trinity College’s student government, was hacked by malicious actors who appear to be part of a large-scale cybercriminal network.

The hackers posted two images promoting a crypto-gambling scam website falsely presented as belonging to Elon Musk, before TCM restored control of the account roughly six hours later. 

This scam website is one of thousands circulated online through compromised accounts since at least May 2025. These sites all share the same backend software, suggesting a centrally-managed operation.

These scam sites appear to intentionally mimic Stake.com, an online cryptocurrency casino recently accused of organizing a racketeering ring with Toronto rapper Drake, seemingly in an effort to expand its footprint in Canada.

Blockchain, Bitcoin, and bust

Until this hacking incident, TCM’s Instagram page was still linked to the Facebook account of a former executive who created it in 2019. The hackers appear to have compromised that Facebook account and used it as a backdoor, according to the account’s login activity. 

The account registered a login from the same type of device several hours earlier. The activity record lists Toronto as the login location, though a VPN could account for this.

The hackers posted a doctored image suggesting that Elon Musk had launched a “Crypto Casino,” offering a $2,500 giveaway to all registrants. The linked website features images of Musk and Tesla Cybertrucks, and boasts of “cutting-edge blockchain technology.”

Visitors are informed that $2,500 has been added to their account balance, and are prompted to try to win more through betting games. Any attempt to withdraw those funds, however, is blocked by a requirement for account verification, which asks for a $60 deposit payable through Bitcoin, Ethereum, or other cryptocurrencies.

Doctored images depicting a crypto casino supposedly created by Musk — or sometimes by social media personality Mr. Beast — have circulated widely online since at least May 2025, posted en masse by compromised accounts. Some have appeared on U of T-related Discord servers.

An investigation in July 2025 by cybersecurity reporter Brian Krebs found that the scammers have paid to register over a thousand different domains, with each site redirecting to a web platform that shares the same interface, user database, self-hosted “Live Support” chat system, and catalogue of games.

One game, “Drop The Boss,” allows players to eject a cartoon caricature resembling Donald Trump from Air Force One mid-flight, with cameos from caricatures evoking Musk, Russian President Vladimir Putin — shirtless astride a Chestnut stallion — and podcast host Joe Rogan.

An AI-generated voice of Musk can be heard in the game, saying, “I am in a K-Hole, man,” an apparent reference to the Tesla CEO’s ketamine use.

Staked reputations

“Drop The Boss” is part of the exclusive catalogue of Stake.com, a popular grey-market cryptocurrency e-casino that the scammers appear to be intentionally mimicking.

While Stake is accessible to users around the world, its online casino license comes from the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao, a jurisdiction with loose gambling regulations. The company also maintains offices in Serbia and Cyprus.

The scam websites replicate Stake’s game catalogue, elements of its user interface, and its partnership with the UFC. A website footer falsely claims ownership by Stake’s same parent company, Medium Rare N.V., and lists fake Curaçao licence details and offices in Cyprus.

Stake, officially banned in the US, UK, and Australia, is able to operate in all Canadian provinces except Ontario, where it has been trying to secure access since at least 2022. 

Stake’s presence in Canada has been boosted by a long-time promotional partnership with Toronto rapper Drake, which has recently come under legal scrutiny. 

A December class action lawsuit filed in Virginia alleges that the partnership used deceptive practices, claiming that Drake publicized extravagant bets made with Stake house money, while giving the false impression that he was wagering with his own money.

Plaintiffs also allege that Drake was using Stake to illicitly channel funds toward the purchase of bots to artificially inflate his music streams on Spotify and other platforms. 

In a statement to Rolling Stone, Stake said that the platform “does not have a tipping function that could be used in this way,” that the complaint was “nonsense,” and that the company is “not concerned about this lawsuit.”