Over the past week, attackers managed to hack the PEPE meme project’s account and create a fake Grayscale Investments profile. ForkLog reports on the latest developments in digital fraud in News+ format.
Hacking of the PEPE Telegram account
On September 9, representatives of the PEPE meme project said that the Telegram group administrator’s account was hacked. The attacker also gained access to the coin’s related X account — LordKekLol.
❌❌ $PEPE Announcement❌❌
The old telegram for $PEPE is hacked and no longer in our control. The “lordkeklol” account has been compromised. Whoever has gained access to this account is using it to push scams and deceive people and launch other coins. This person is lying and… pic.twitter.com/jxlYwoSP1Q
— Pepe (@pepecoineth) September 9, 2023
“The person who gained access to this account is using it to scam people and deceive them and launch other coins. This person is lying and has nothing to do with PEPE or any current or former participants involved in the process,” the warning said.
Earlier there were rumors of a scam around the project, partially substantiated. On August 25, on-chain researchers noted that multisignature wallet PEPE reduced the number of required confirmations from 5 to 2 and moved part of the assets to decentralized exchanges.
The sole remaining developer of the meme token said that three former members of the project team are behind this. In light of the situation, traders began selling their PEPE, fearing a dump.
In the past week, the asset declined by 12%, and by 47% over the month. At the time of writing, the coin trades at $0.0000007.
On September 8, PeckShield analysts documented a transfer of 726 billion PEPE to Coinbase. The user swapped the coins for 345.7 ETH (~$556,000).
#PeckShieldAlert Address 0x14cb (Alleged #Mattfurie) swapped 726B $PEPE for ~345.7 $ETH ~12 hours ago, and then transferred them to #Coinbase. #PEPE #DorkLord pic.twitter.com/Gyrdt0GtiQ
— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) September 8, 2023
Earlier another whale sent 1.5T PEPE from three wallets to Binance. According to Lookonchain, he bought these tokens on August 24 after the developers’ dump for $1.45 million, and now sold them at a loss for $1.2 million.
An hour ago, 3 wallets (probably the same person) deposited 1.5T $PEPE ($1.2M) into #Binance at a loss of $242K.
These 3 wallets withdrew 1.5T $PEPE($1.45M at the time) from #OKX after the Pepe team dumped 16T $PEPE on August 24. pic.twitter.com/StKCuGMGFZ
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) September 6, 2023
Warning from Shibarium developer
On September 10, the developer of the L2 network Shibarium, based on the Shiba Inu token, warned of possible fraud. The protocol features a new project Pawswap, which is likely a “scam”.
This is the personal opinion of our @Shibariumtech admin DaVinci and #NFA. Remember, I’ve been sharing @PawZoneOfficial $Paw with you since it launched. @PawzaarOfficial is one of the features and will be one of the first #NFT marketplaces on #Shibarium to rival @opensea.… pic.twitter.com/Ya125SLH8J
— Digarch Stan | Summer Of Shibarium (@Digarch) September 10, 2023
On the back of Grayscale’s success
Last week attackers capitalised on the hype around Grayscale Investments after granting its motion in the case against SEC. A post on X announced a $25 million token airdrop linked to the firm’s flagship trust (GBTC).
The @Grayscale_FND account carried a blue checkmark. Previously, such a designation could only be earned by an official profile that had passed administration. Verification now costs just $8. At the time of writing, the profile has been removed.
Earlier on September 10, attackers hacked the X account of Ethereum cofounder Vitalik Buterin. According to blockchain analyst ZachXBT, the total damage exceeded $691 000.