The scammers were pre-selling a fake token, which the WSB team had allegedly designed, for ETH and BNB. Although it was possible to recover part of the funds, the risks of this type of scams are increasing.
Trying to take advantage of the reputation of the Reddit group WallStreetBets (WSB), scammers pre-sold a fake token that the former were allegedly endorsing. By doing that, they scammed many people who wanted to make a profit with that business offer.
According to the BNNBloomberg team, the scammers created a Telegram group called “WallStreetBets – Crypto Pumps.” They were pre-selling a fake token called “WSB Finance”, which they claimed that the WSB team had designed.
The administrators of the Telegram group offered the opportunity to acquire the new cryptocurrency before its listing on the main exchanges. To do this, the scammers requested making advance purchases with Ethereum (ETH) or Binance Coin (BNB) at an address that they provided.
The Scammers Requested the Victims for a Payment Similar to the Previous One
The buyers then had to interact with the “token bot”, which would give them their WSB Finance tokens. However, the victims then began to perceive the irregularities as they received messages about problems with the trading operations.
In the end, many of them identified the scam when the criminals demanded an additional payment similar to the previous one to correct the “error”. This method appears as one of the most common strategies to steal capital from victims who fear losing their initial investment.
As the complaints went viral, it was already clear that the administrators were operating an ongoing scam. The latter proceeded to shut down the Telegram group, after appropriating at least around USD 2 million that they stole from the victims.
It Was Possible to Recover Part of the Funds from the Wallet of the Criminals
Various media highlight that the scammers did not succeed in getting completely away with it. It was possible to recover more than 3,450 BNB (equivalent to around USD 2,187,300) from the wallet that the criminals used to attract the investment of the victims.
The Binance team seems to have made this possible by freezing the funds to prevent the scammers from taking the stolen capital. In this regard, the exchange’s staff has not yet released official statements on that event.
Many Scammers Take Advantage of Topics of Interest and the Reputation of People and Groups
Many analysts and enthusiasts consider that many unscrupulous people use the same modus operandi to fool naive people. They take advantage of the stir around topics, groups, personalities, and organizations to raise capital from deceptive offers.
The same has happened many times on Twitter, Facebook, and Telegram, where scammers create accounts that pretend to be personalities and organizations. They use them to raise capital in cryptocurrencies or steal important data from the victims to seize their funds.
The WallStreetBets team previously warned of potential copycats who used the group’s name to mislead unsuspecting people. For that reason, they advised their followers to avoid accepting offers that the Reddit group endorsed.
There has been a growing boom in the trading of major cryptocurrencies and a stir about various DeFi proposals. It is important to do personal research before investing in something that seems very good because reputable people and groups supposedly endorse it.
By Alexander Salazar
