Connect with us

Crypto scam

FBI warns of ICHCoin crypto scam costing Americans their life savings

Published

on



The FBI is sounding the alarm on a cryptocurrency scam that’s cost some Americans their entire life savings.

According to an abc13 report, the bureau alleges that ICHCoin, which lured victims under the pretense of offering a crash course on cryptocurrency investing, is an elaborate scam that has siphoned millions of dollars from individuals across the United States.

FBI Houston’s assistant special agent in charge Amanda Culver told the media outlet that the perpetrators behind the scam have been duping people since December 2023 and have stolen roughly $30 million via the ICHCoin app. Some victims had allegedly lost their entire lifesaving.

Culver added that scammers can easily find victims as “people are very interested in investing in cryptocurrency,” emphasizing the importance of doing proper research before making any investments.

The FBI is currently investigating the scam and has urged victims to come forward with information regarding ICHOCoin or similar scams by filling out their online questionnaire.

How the ICHCoin scam works

According to Culver, the scam works in multiple stages. First, scammers approach victims on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. The icebreaker is an offer to educate the victim on cryptocurrency investing, promising to open doors to lucrative profits through crypto investments.

Once victims are convinced, they are redirected to messaging platforms like WhatsApp, where a fake professor or teacher contacts them to proceed with the scam. While Culver did not provide more details on how the scam plays out from here, the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions had flagged ICHCoin in one of its warnings in July. 

At the time, crypto.news reported that the victims were lured into the “Excellence and Innovation Fortune Business School,” which is a front for the ICHCoin scam and were added to groups controlled by these fake academics, which offered daily trading signals and investment tips for massive returns.

This is also where the victims are introduced to a fake crypto trading platform, in this case, the ICHCoin app, and urged to make investments. Culver added that the scammers often urge victims to lie to the banks when making transfers to these platforms. The app also shows false return on investment data, but when attempts are made to withdraw any profits, the accounts are frozen, or the scammers ghost the victim.

She also stressed the importance of recognizing red flags, particularly when receiving “unsolicited messages” promising high returns or offering “free money” to investors, emphasizing that these are clear warning signs.

FBI hunting crypto scammers

Over the past months, the FBI has increased its crackdown on cryptocurrency scams and ramped up investigations. The bureau issued warnings regarding crypto threats on multiple occasions in September alone. 

For instance, on Sept. 3, the FBI cautioned businesses dealing with crypto exchange-traded funds that the notorious North Korean hacking group Lazarus started using “complex and elaborate” tactics to infiltrate their systems. In a subsequent report, the bureau revealed that over $5.6 billion was lost in frauds and scams involving cryptocurrencies, with individuals over 60 as the most targeted demographic.

In early October, the federal agency also charged an individual with attempting to extort cryptocurrency assets.



Source link

Blockchain

Crypto fakes on X nearly doubled, reaching over 300 accounts daily

Published

on



Bad actors keep ramping up crypto scams, with impersonation accounts surging to over 300 a day, according to blockchain analysts.

Crypto scams on X are once again rising fast, with major accounts hijacked to promote fake tokens. Victims have already lost millions, and experts are warning users to stay alert.

Analysts at blockchain firm Scam Sniffer warned in an X post on Dec. 10 that starting this week, daily impersonation accounts surged by 87%, jumping to over 300 compared to the November average of 160. The spike increases the risk for users as scammers continue to exploit high-profile accounts to push fraudulent schemes.

The analysts note that in one recent case alone, two victims lost over $3 million worth of crypto by interacting with malicious links and signing transactions linked to fake accounts. As crypto.news reported earlier, the scams are particularly prevalent on Solana (SOL), where compromised accounts, including those of major entities like Yahoo News UK, Lenovo India, and Money Control, have been used to push a scam meme coin called HACKED.

Blockchain sleuth ZachXBT, who has been tracking these scams, recently issued a warning to the crypto community, advising users to be extra cautious. “So far, it seems the scammers may have lost money, as the market cap of the HACKED token is a modest $67K, and top traders have barely made $1K,” ZachXBT noted.

The compromised X accounts appear to have been connected to the same malicious site or application. As a precaution, ZachXBT recommends that users revoke any access permissions to unfamiliar sites or apps.

The latest incident follows a series of similar scams, including the recent use of Kylian Mbappé’s account to promote a fake MBAPPE meme coin. Earlier in September, hackers also targeted family members of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump in a scam involving the fake World Liberty Financial coin.





Source link

Continue Reading

Crypto scam

Why HAWK Memecoin Crashed from $500M to $60M in Minutes

Published

on



Hailey Welch, an influencer on social media, launched her own memecoin, Hawk Tuah, on Dec. 4. The cryptocurrency crashed from $500 million to $60 million in just 20 minutes post-launch.

Hailey Welch, commonly known as the Hawk Tuah Girl on the internet, launched her new memecoin of the same name, $HAWK, on Solana on Dec. 4. The coin quickly took off, garnering a market cap of about $500 million, which then crashed to nearly $60 million, all within 20 minutes of launch. The news was further confirmed by Solana (SOL) on X.

Solana’s X post on the Hawk tuah or HAWK token plummeting down.

Who is Hawk tuah girl?

Welch first rose to fame as the “Hawk tuah girl” after a video of her went viral, making a comical onomatopoeic sound of spitting took over social media earlier this year. With the meme, Welch soon progressed from working a minimum wage job to finding herself in an internet meme culture. Building on this viral moment, Welch launched the HAWK token. 

Rise and fall of HAWK token

The massive drop of almost 88% in the HAWK token has reignited the discussion on the high volatility of memecoins in the cryptocurrency community. Some crypto users believe the token was initially built for rug pulling, a cryptocurrency scam in which developers withdraw liquidity or suddenly abandon a project, resulting in the token’s price plummeting. 

Community-generated content visible on X warning about the HAWK token.

According to content generated by the community on X, the Hawk token’s supply was allegedly “sniped” shortly after launch. This refers to instances where early investors or bots snatch up large amounts of tokens, leaving the broader community with less access and exposing them to risks. These are often warning signs of the health of the project as it shows few people own the token. However, not all holders have sold their HAWKs, as posted by a user, ZeusLFG, reflecting a strong optimism for the token.

At the time of writing, the token’s trading volume has risen exponentially by 951.67%, as per CoinMarketCap. While the debate goes on, Hawk Token remains under close observation, with members of the community demanding additional disclosures to confirm these claims and keep a close eye on this project.



Source link

Continue Reading

24/7 Cryptocurrency News

Pro Gamer Linked to $3.5M Meme Coin Scam: ZachXBT

Published

on


The crypto market has become the center of attention, with the Bitcoin price aiming at the $100k mark. However, another incident is also gaining investors’ attention these days. A famous crypto investigator, ZachXBT made a major crypto scam finding, linking a pro gamer to a $3.5M meme coin scam. More importantly, these scams were also linked to major celebrity social media account hacks, scam promotions, and much more.

At one point, the crypto industry had earned a name for itself among the biggest finance entities, with $3.31T in global market capitalization. However, the rising crypto scams, theft, and laundering are concerning. Even Changpeng Zhao showed disappointment in memecoin and the rising scams.

ZachXBT Unveils $3.5M MemeCoin Scam and the Culprit

In 2024, the crypto market faced many wallet hacks, rug pull scams, and many other concerning scams. However, celebrity account hacks and the promotion of cryptocurrency-related scams were the most frequent.

Considering the rising case, a popular crypto investigator, ZachXBT, analyzed nine celebrity account hacks and the involved meme coins. He concluded that there is a connection between all these hacks. More importantly, he claimed that a pro-Fortnite gamer known by the name Serpent is the mastermind behind this.

ZachXBT linked this pro gamer in the $3.5M meme coin scam, confirming that he used multiple Pump.Fun memecoin and pump and dump tactics to make millions. Surprisingly, the biggest connection was the Serpent’s ERROR project wallet, which interacted with every social media hacker’s wallets directly or indirectly.

1/ An investigation into how the threat actor Serpent went from a pro Fortnite player to helping steal $3.5M via meme coin scams launched from 9+ account compromises on X & IG and gambling the proceeds away at online casinos. https://t.co/zR6QtuQW8a pic.twitter.com/Y8ovnEnQgj

— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) November 27, 2024

Serpent is known as a pro gamer and blockchain security analyst. He is even the founder of the Sentinel, which is a threat mitigation system but new reports link him with the scam, making it a big controversy. More importantly, he scammed $3.5M and gambled them away in online casinos. The controversy grew as Serpent deleted many of his X posts right after ZachXBT’s claims.

Breaking Down The Serpent’s Crypto Scam

In a detailed X post, ZachXBT revealed his finding to the crypto community, which explained the memecoin scams of more than $3.5M after the scammer compromised various celebrity social media accounts. It includes the account hacks of  McDonald’s, Usher, Kabosu Owner, Andy Ayrey, Wiz Khalifa, SPX 6900, etc X (Twitter) and Instagram.

Celebrity account hack & memecoin scamCelebrity account hack & memecoin scam

McDonald’s Instagram hack was among the first hacks of the year, where the scammer promoted a memecoin called GRIMACE and earned more than $690k with the pump and dump tactics. This happened on August 21, and the person shifted the funds to two main crypto wallets. The crypto scammer transferred 101.5 SOL to two addresses on September 3 and deployed the SCHRADER token. Interestingly, this token was promoted during the  Actor Dean Norris X account hack.

Further, on September 6, the scammer processed Mcdonald’s ATO to a casino deposit address with the beginning address as B2fw. This same account transferred 110 Sol to two new wallet addresses on September 12 and sniped the meme coins which was used during the Usher crypto hack. The same B2fw wallet transferred 4868 SOL to casino deposit address ECb5v, which is connected to Andy Ayrey and the Enoshima Aquarium hack on October 15.  Within the same day, 84 SOLs were transferred to ECb5v.

Even the popular AI bot Truth Terminal owner’s X account got hacked on October 29, which stayed compromised for days. In that period, 6 memecoins were promoted on his account. All these involved a common 3GVUs  wallet, and the same wallet transferred 169 SOL to Ecb5vs on October 30. However, this is just the mid, the list goes on for others.

Bottom Line

Meme-themed cryptocurrencies gained investors attention in 2024, where many offered heavy gains, mainly the Solana memecoins. As a result, millions of Solana-based meme tokens were launched this year on Pump. Fun, but many were misused for crypto scams. With his recent investigation, ZachXBT has revealed the person behind the $3.5M meme coins scam. The scams also involved hacking celebrity accounts and promoting tokens to boost their price and dumping them all. This way, the scammer or alleged pro-Fortnite gamer Serpent made heavy returns, but others were left with losses.

✓ Share:

Pooja Khardia

With a deep-seated passion for reading and five years of experience in content writing, Pooja is now focused on crafting trending content about cryptocurrency market.

As a dedicated crypto journalist, Pooja is constantly seeking out trending topics and informative statistics to create compelling pieces for crypto enthusiasts. Staying abreast of the latest trends and advancements in the field is an integral part of her daily routine, fueling a commitment to delivering timely and insightful coverage

Disclaimer: The presented content may include the personal opinion of the author and is subject to market condition. Do your market research before investing in cryptocurrencies. The author or the publication does not hold any responsibility for your personal financial loss.





Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement [ethereumads]

Trending

    wpChatIcon