Additionally, deleting then resubmitting your submission is against HN rules. (as I commented previously on this post. And no, deleting the original Medium post then submitting a new one with minor edits does not count)
I wouldn't really call it a hack. It's abusing the referral system. If it was losing them any significant amount of money they would probably ban you or limit the referral system.
And it's not easy to create Google accounts quickly.
Complete with a cool story about how he also wrote this in an obnoxious job application letter with a stupid headline, and because nobody cared enough to respond, he wrote it up again in a Medium post. Ugh.
Additionally, deleting then resubmitting your submission is against HN rules. (as I commented previously on this post. And no, deleting the original Medium post then submitting a new one with minor edits does not count)