Crypto scammers seem to be on an expansion drive now that the digital assets sector is logging growth in several regions around the world. Yi He, the co-founder of Binance called out Elon Musk over the weekend to take measures to ensure that the spread of fake crypto-related news on X is dealt with proactively. The Binance executive found herself embroiled in an impersonation scam recently, wherein her identity was being used to promote a fake crypto token on X.
In a post published on X, He said that she has not issued any crypto tokens called MemeCoins. She has clearly instructed her followers as well as members of Binance’s crypto circle to not bite the bait and invest in this scam token.
Calling out to Musk, the chief of X, He wrote, “Many people were tricked by this hacker link and lost a significant amount of money today. Is there any way to address this issue Elon Musk?” The screenshots shared by He also showed her crypto handle as well as her name being impersonated.
Musk, who is otherwise very active on X, has not posted any response to He’s question so far.
I have not issued any new MEMEcoins. Clicking on the link will result in your money being stolen. Many people were tricked by this hacker link and lost a significant amount of money today. Is there any way to address this issue?
@elonmusk pic.twitter.com/fCiweFweBa— Yi He (@heyibinance) June 14, 2024
In March this year, Scam Sniffer said in its crypto phishing report that about 57,000 victims lost approximately $47 million (roughly Rs. 392 crore) to crypto phishing scams – with most percentage of scams facilitated by scammers working on X.
:rotating_light: [1/6] ScamSniffer’s February Phishing Report
In February, about 57,000 victims lost approximately $47 million to crypto phishing scams.
Compared to January, the number of victims who lost over $1 million decreased by 75%. pic.twitter.com/UgZk0K91lH— Scam Sniffer | Web3 Anti-Scam (@realScamSniffer) March 10, 2024
In February this year, the X account of MicroStrategy was hacked, through which the airdrop of a scam MSTR crypto token was promoted. Since MicroStrategy is a pro-Bitcoin business intelligence firm, several people believed the token airdrop was legitimate and ended up engaging with malicious links. At the time, market analysers like Scam Sniffer and ZachXBT had estimated that this scam had managed to steal around over $440,000 (roughly Rs. 3.6 crore).
The X account of Blockchain Capital was also hacked last year to promote another scam token BCAP. In fact, He herself had sounded an alert about the rising number of crypto scams stirring on X in January this year.
When Musk acquired X from its founder Jack Dorsey in April 2022, he said ridding the social networking platform of crypto-related market manipulating bots and scammers was among his top priorities. Despite the changes that he introduced to the platform; crypto scammers are still misusing the platform to connect with potential victims.