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Crypto scam

How crypto bloggers may suffer

Published

3 months ago

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The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has banned fake reviews and recommendations. What does it mean for crypto?

According to the latest news, the decision introduces financial and administrative restrictions on individuals who “sell or buy fake social media influencer indicators.”

The FTC leadership unanimously supported the introduction of the new rules. They will take effect 60 days after publication in the Federal Register:

Fake reviews not only waste people’s time and money, but pollute the marketplace and divert business away from honest competitors.

Lina M. Khan, FTC chair

The new policy also applies to crypto influencers. With the release of the latest ban, unfair methods to boost a channel or page on a social network will lead to fines and sanctions from the authorities. The FTC will also prohibit using tools that use artificial intelligence technologies for such purposes.

At the same time, the ban only applies to cases where the account owner specifically ordered or otherwise facilitated such a service. The rules also mention that fines will be imposed if the mentioned methods are used to obtain benefits for commercial purposes.

Recently, the FTC has noted a sharp increase in social media investment scams, especially in cryptocurrency. These include fake messages promising guaranteed high returns with little or no risk.

FTC consumer education specialist Andrew Raio noted that scammers are increasingly targeting social media users on major platforms with fraudulent investment opportunities, especially crypto:

If you reply, the scammer will say they’ve made lots of money investing in Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency. And they can get you a unique opportunity that guarantees significant returns with little or no risk. But these are all lies designed to convince you and get your money.

The victim is redirected to a fake investment site or app where their investment account looks profitable. However, once the scammer has squeezed out as much money as possible, they disappear, leaving the victim with nothing.

Crypto romance scams

The FTC has also warned about cryptocurrency scammers offering investment advice under the guise of romantic partners.

The regulator noted that scammers build an emotional connection with you, making you more likely to believe they are experts in investing in cryptocurrency.

The scam usually begins with an unsolicited social media contact. The scammer carefully studies the victim’s profile to establish trust and a connection. Once a relationship is established, the conversation turns to investments, with the scammer claiming their top priority is the victim’s financial security.

More restrictions for the crypto sphere are coming

In addition to crypto influencers, betting platforms have previously come under the scrutiny of the U.S. authorities.

Earlier in August, the U.S. Congress called on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to ban political bets. Authorities noted that they could influence the outcome of the U.S. presidential election.

Five senators and three members of the House of Representatives sent an open letter to CFTC Chairman Rostin Benham. They stated that such mechanisms could undermine public confidence in the electoral system.

The initiative is also aimed at the Polymarket betting platform, where crypto community members guess the presidential election’s outcome. According to the latest data, the bet volume has exceeded $606 million. Vice President Kamala Harris is in the lead — users estimate her chances of winning at 53%, and 44% of people who placed a bet believe in former President Donald Trump’s triumph.

The US to fine for social media boosting: How crypto bloggers may suffer - 1
Source: Polymarket

At the same time, the total political section on the platform in terms of funds exceeds $1 billion. Polymarket participants bet on hundreds of events.

U.S. politicians have suddenly fallen in love with cryptocurrencies

Despite the statements of individual regulators and government officials, politicians have also increased their interest in cryptocurrencies in the run-up to the presidential elections. In particular, Trump, who in 2018 instructed the U.S. Treasury to end Bitcoin (BTC), and in 2021, called it a fraud and asked for regulating the industry.

Although the Democrats have not explicitly stated their support for digital assets, they have not recently called for increased regulation or a ban. In addition, with the approval from above, the Securities and Exchange Commission would have approved even one of the documents required to list the Ethereum ETF.

Therefore, it is evident that American politicians have taken a course on a loyal attitude towards cryptocurrency.



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Crypto scam

Crypto traders doxx 13 year-old-boy who rugged two pump.fun tokens

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2 days ago

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November 20, 2024

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A 13-year-old boy got doxxed by crypto traders after pulling the rug on a pump.fun token he named Gen Z Quant. Traders doxxed his whole family and turned them into pump.fun tokens.

Crypto traders doxx 13 year-old-boy who rugged two pump.fun tokens - 1
The price chart of Gen Z Quant, a token belonging to a 13-year-old who rugged the original token at $30,000, November 20, 2024 | Source: DEX Screener

A 13-year-old boy has been caught in the middle of one of the most random rug-pulls the crypto community has ever witnessed. On Nov. 20, the unnamed boy launched a token on pump.fun under the ticker QUANT and watched as the price go up by 260% mere minutes after launching.

Not even an hour later, the boy dumps all his QUANT tokens, effectively pulling the rug from under traders who had bought the token minutes before. The boy made a profit of $30,000 by inflating the price and selling all his tokens.

As if that was not enough, he went online and flipped the middle finger at the traders who had been burned by QUANT’s rug-pull. He then went on to do the same thing by launching another token of the same name, which he later dumped for another $12,000 in profit.

Not long after, more experienced traders took over and brought the token’s market cap up to $70 million. The Gen Z Quant token he launched as an elaborate troll is currently trading at $0.05571 according to DEX Screener. It has soared to nearly 50% in the past six hours but is gradually going down hill by 13% in the past hour.

Although the boy has managed to turn his initial $30,000 token into a $2.4 million token, the crypto community was not going to let his misdemeanor slide.

Traders began doxxing the boy’s family and locating his school, tracking their social media accounts and complaining about the funds they lost thanks to the boy’s rug pull. Soon enough, developers began launching new pump.fun tokens named after the boy’s family members with their profile pictures revealed to accompany them.

Pump.fun tokens with the ticker QUANT DAD, QUANT SIS and QUANT MOM have already been circulating the markets, as well as tokens accompanied by a picture of the boy’s whole family and their pet dog with the ticker CABAL.

“Kid put his bloodline on the line,” one user pointed out.

“Then the community cto’d it to $135 million. He could’ve had 1.2 million. Then they doxxed his name, address and sschool. The community is roothless,” said a user on X.

One trader dubbed the boy “the future of finance,” while another reminded the community that this boy represents a messed up generation that has been “optimized to do that to people.”



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Scammers Decided Not to Operate in TON. Is this good?

Published

1 month ago

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October 23, 2024

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Crypto scammers using malware to steal digital assets refused to attack TON users. However, things are not so clear-cut.

Scam Sniffer experts noted that the operators of a drainer popular among scammers rejected the TON network.

In a message published in an unspecified Telegram channel, the drainer creators announced its closure in the TON ecosystem. The main reason is the lack of crypto whales:

The malicious application’s developers are now moving to the Bitcoin blockchain, which will probably create many more opportunities for scammers to rob.

“What’s next? If you enjoyed draining on the TON network you will definitely live draining Bitcoins.”

One of the main reasons for the lack of whales is the vast number of airdrops on TON. They make fraud not the most profitable way to earn money: phishing schemes on The Open Network bring little profit, reducing scammers’ interest.

However, SlowMist founder Yu Xian said that such an assessment of whale activity in TON may need to be more complex. In his opinion, the drainer team may need to pay more attention to the potential of the TON blockchain.

“A phishing group on TON is ready to shut down, arguing that they believe TON has no whale players and is a small community. They have already turned to the Bitcoin ecosystem… Too realistic. Or maybe this gang isn’t smart enough.”

Yu Xian, SlowMist founder

How the TON blockchain became a new haven for scammers

TON has become one of the most successful stories of 2024, with the value of its token growing by more than 100% since the beginning of the year. In addition, integrating TON with the Telegram messenger, which has more than 900 million users, strengthened its position as a potential residence for the widespread distribution of cryptocurrency.

Scammers’ activity in TON arose against the backdrop of the rapid growth of the blockchain. Due to increased interest and investment in TON, fraudulent activity has gained momentum since at least November 2023.

The interest is mainly driven by the increasing popularity of mini-apps. They successfully exploited the popularity of projects such as Notcoin and Hamster Kombat. Typically, the attackers used the popularity of tap-to-earn games.

For example, Kaspersky Lab noted that scammers offered to earn Toncoin (TON) using bots and referral links. To make it easier to deceive users, the scammers recorded a video with instructions, created text manuals, and provided them with many explanatory screenshots.

Tonkeeper explained that the scammers rely on current trends in the ecosystem. For example, they created a token against the backdrop of the excitement caused by the launch of Hamster Kombat. Therefore, the names and tickers of fake tokens are often consonant with the names of popular projects.

“Usually, scammers create tokens before the official listing of the real coin. Check information about the token launch in official sources.”

Tonkeeper team

Experts from BlockAid also noted that attackers used leak tools previously used on the Ethereum and Solana platforms. In September, more than 300 malicious decentralized applications (dapps) were launched on TON, highlighting the growing threats.

Despite the growing popularity of TON, the blockchain has yet to boast of popularity among fraudsters, according to data from the REKT Database.

Thus, Ethereum became the leader in phishing attacks last year, suffering losses of over $65 million, 91% of the total loss. Arbitrum also suffered losses of $5.2 million, while Bitcoin lost $768,000.

In terms of exploits, Ethereum was also the most affected blockchain in this category, with losses of $482.7 million, while Binance was the most vulnerable to exit scams, with a loss of $74.5 million.

Regarding attackers’ move to the Bitcoin blockchain, CertiK, another well-known company in the blockchain security field, emphasized that scammers are becoming increasingly interested in Bitcoin due to its high transaction volumes, large user base, and significant total value locked (TVL).

Fraudsters have decided not to operate in TON. But is this a good thing? - 1
Blockchain statistics by hack volume in Q3 2024. Source: CertiK

Phishing attacks on Bitcoin have increased significantly in recent months. One of the most notable incidents was the attack on a Bitcoin whale that resulted in $238 million in losses, further highlighting the growing risks in this area.



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Crypto scam

Andrew Tate is Poison — Crypto Must Stand Up for Coffeezilla

Published

1 month ago

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October 22, 2024

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Andrew Tate’s response to Coffeezilla shows he’s thin-skinned and doesn’t care about the people who have invested in his tokens.

On-chain sleuth Coffeezilla has become a thorn in the side of high-profile influencers shilling coins to their millions of fans.

One of his best-known scalps is Logan Paul, who was ripped to shreds over his embattled and now-abandoned project CryptoZoo. 

Coffeezilla’s also gone toe-to-toe with the likes of Sam Bankman-Fried as he vies to uncover scams to his 3.77 million subscribers on YouTube.

But now, the investigator is facing an almighty backlash about a deep dive that hasn’t even been released yet — and it relates to a number of coins that have been endorsed by Andrew Tate.

On Wednesday, Coffeezilla shared a DM that he had sent to Tate, asking whether he had been paid to promote cryptocurrencies, including ROOST and DADDY.

Andrew Tate is poison — crypto must stand up for Coffeezilla | Opinion - 1
Coffeezilla’s DM to Andrew Tate | Source: @coffeebreak_YT

The message also pointed out that this is completely at odds with videos that Tate had released on X earlier this year, where he was topless and appeared to have substantially more hair.

Coffeezilla is following a crucial journalistic principle known as the “right of reply.” If you’re going to make allegations against someone, they must have the ability to respond before publication.

But instead of answering the legitimate questions put forward — which would be of interest to his many acolytes — Tate chose to go down the homophobic route.

By the looks of things, this has now unleashed a huge can of worms. Coffeezilla shared a screenshot that shows how his inbox has been bombarded with slurs.

Why? Because Tate reposted an anonymous account that exposed Coffeezilla’s email address, with the misogynist telling his followers: “Email him and call him gay.” 

Undeterred, the investigator has insisted that he still wants a reply to his questions — and it’s likely that, if the clock runs out, Coffeezilla’s video will go live anyway without a comment.

The YouTuber also posted a comical mash-up that showed Tate chomping on a cigar because it looks cool, declaring that he respected Coffeezilla, cutting to another clip where he says:

“Coffeezilla is a b****. I don’t give a f*** about your video, I don’t respect your journalism.”

Given how wide-eyed Tate is as he jabs his finger toward the camera, you could suggest that all of this scrutiny is bothering the sham entrepreneur more than he lets on.

Andrew Tate is poison — crypto must stand up for Coffeezilla | Opinion - 2
Andrew Tate drinks more coffee than you do

What is Coffeezilla investigating? 

Coffeezilla, who married his high school girlfriend in 2017, has so far remained tight-lipped about the nature of the allegations against Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan. 

But it seems a core part of the focus in his upcoming investigation will surround the $DADDY token, which has fallen precipitously in value since launch and has never recovered.

An all-time high of $0.2925 was set in mid-June when CoinMarketCap started tracking the altcoin — and at the time of writing, it’s down by more than 48%.

Tate’s full rebuttal video is something of a parody — honestly, some of the lines in there are pure comedy, especially how they are delivered. He tells Coffeezilla: 

“I guarantee I drink more coffee than you — meaning you’re a fraud to begin with. You’re doing this little breakdown, this investigation, you just emailed me in a homosexual tone.”

To be honest, I don’t even know where to start with this. You can’t have “Coffee” in your handle unless you prove you’ve got a higher caffeine tolerance than Andrew Tate? Daring to scrutinize a man who has more legal troubles than Lamborghinis reveals his sexual preference? 

Even before knowing the exact nature of Coffeezilla’s investigation, we have an insight into how thin-skilled Andrew Tate really is — and ultimately, how little he cares for his community, as well as those who have invested in his tokens.

Tate’s toxic masculinity has preyed on the insecurities of disenfranchised young men around the world while his foray into crypto has dived into their wallets — creating a false illusion that they, too, will experience extreme wealth one day.

When you think about it, Tate’s branding and messaging are reminiscent of an era that most of the crypto world has been trying to move away from, when the ICO boom of 2017 was full of wild excesses along with never-ending images of fast cars and bundles of cash. 

In this battle, the crypto community needs to rally behind Coffeezilla — a man who has taken great risks to expose bad actors in the space and stand up for those who have lost their life savings to some of the industry’s most audacious scams. He, among others, serves as crypto’s immune system, with every investigation slowly chiseling away at the sector’s “Wild West” image and deterring opportunistic thieves planning to swindle unsuspecting victims.

The crypto community needs to distance itself from narcissists like Tate, who use homophobia as a weapon to deflect against their own shortcomings. Coffeezilla’s sexual orientation has zero relevance to the work he performs, and it’s shameful to think otherwise. Digital assets won’t ever achieve mass adoption if the influencers within this space denigrate innocent people who are doing nothing wrong.

And last but not least, the crypto community needs to realize that Andrew Tate and his coins represent everything that this innovative sector is not: hateful, harmful and dishonest. Engaging with him only drags down the rest of the industry.

Crypto is all about the future. Tate’s worldview belongs to the past.





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