How This Scammer Stole $2.6 Million in Cryptocurrencies

Ansem, a scammer claiming to be a popular cryptocurrency influencer, stole over $2.6 million worth of Solana (SOL) tokens. The X (formerly Twitter) scam was exposed and the thief took advantage of the memecoin craze to lure investors into a fake sale of a non-existent token nicknamed “BULL”.

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ZachXBT, an investigator on the series, reported on this daring heist. The scammer, posing as Ansem, pre-announced the sale of the fake “BULL” token in replies to Ansem's legitimate tweets. This elaborate scheme resulted in significant losses, with the largest victim losing nearly $1.2 million.

He commented Robert Sasso. Commenting on the fraud incident:

"$2.6 million sent to an account? Why would anyone send tokens to an account this way when it only takes a few lines of code to execute a smart contract to sell?"

Even after Zack XBT's publication, cryptocurrency fraudsters stole over $250,000. It should be noted that fraudsters They continue Likewise, it works on other accounts as well.

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This scam occurred during the rapid rise of the Book of Meme (BOME) token. BOME, a meme on the Solana blockchain, quickly gained popularity, especially after it was listed on the Binance exchange.

57,000 people fell victim to cryptocurrency scams in February

Scam Sniffer reported that 57 thousand people They fell prey to cryptocurrency scams in February, suffering collective losses of around $47 million. These were mainly phishing attacks carried out on social media platforms.

The Ethereum mainnet was hit the hardest, with users losing 78% of the total stolen funds. Notably, Ethereum-based ERC20 tokens accounted for the bulk of the losses, amounting to $40 million.

Although the number of people losing more than $1 million decreased by 75%, a major theft of $6.2 million occurred in a single day in February.

Additionally, the tactics used by fraudsters are becoming more and more sophisticated. They often impersonate verified accounts of crypto entities on social networks, especially on X. Among their methods are phishing signatures such as Permit, IncreaseAllowance, and Uniswap Permit2.

Additionally, the number of fraud victims increased by more than 10,000 in just one month. However, the total amount stolen has decreased slightly. This trend indicates an increasing risk Phishing attacks In the digital currency ecosystem.

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Investors should therefore be careful. Especially during periods of intense market activity. Checking the legitimacy of investment opportunities is also crucial to avoid falling victim to such scams.