There are a few ways to amass Twitter and Instagram followers. You can 1) post interesting things in niche topics to find similar minds or 2) hack a celebrity's account and tweet for their millions of dedicated fans to follow you. And that second option is exactly what a group of users did to Taylor Swift today (Jan. 27). Yes, the "Blank Space" singer's social media accounts were hacked.

Two unauthorized tweets were sent out from Swift's account shortly after 12 p.m., The Verge reports. The messages were only slightly out of character for Swift, with the phrase "fav when done for a follow" tipping off that it may not be the mega-pop star behind the messages.

The tweets asked for Swift's fans to follow two accounts, @lizzard and @veriuser. Though the accounts in question have now been suspended, @lizzard was apparently the "leader" of the Lizard Squad, the hacking group behind the attacks on Swift.


The hacking is making such a splash due to the size of Swift's Twitter following. She's the fourth-most followed person on the site, with over 51 million followers.

And that's not the only account of hers to get hacked today. Swift's Instagram was also targeted, presumably by the same group, with requests for her 20 million-plus followers on that social media site to follow a user named "Trash."

That account was also quickly recovered. Swift gave an explanation of the hackings on her tumblr, which was safe today. "My Twitter got hacked but don't worry, Twitter is deleting the hacker tweets and locking my account until they can figure out how this happened and get me new passwords," she wrote. "Never a dull moment."

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