Millions Lost in $460M Crypto Scam from Hacked Mbappé Account

August 30, 2024 03:23 PM AEST | By Team Kalkine Media

Google News:

Millions Lost in $460M Crypto Scam from Hacked Mbappé Account — Image source: shutterstock

Recent News

BNP Paribas Exane dubs Goodyear "tariff winner," shares surge

Goldman Sachs downgrades General Mills, Conagra on cost pressures, wea...

SEC progresses toward DOGE goals, eyes voluntary workforce reductions

MS downgrades McDonald’s on limited upside and structural pressures on...

A significant incident involving the X account of football star Kylian Mbappé led to substantial financial losses for traders. The account was compromised by hackers who used it to promote a fraudulent cryptocurrency token. The scam token, purportedly endorsed by Mbappé, promised to "double" any tokens sent to a specified address, resulting in a temporary surge in its market capitalization to $460 million before it rapidly fell to under $100,000.

The fraudulent endorsement led to one trader incurring a loss exceeding $1 million. This individual expended a substantial amount of Solana tokens to acquire the fake Mbappé token shortly after the compromised account promoted it. According to a Lookin Chain X post from August 29, the trader’s significant investment was made in the wake of the scam’s initial publicity.

The incident is part of a broader trend of scam-related financial losses linked to celebrity-endorsed cryptocurrency tokens. Earlier in August, a similar situation occurred with TrumpCoin (DJT), a {memecoin} themed around former President Donald Trump, which saw a dramatic decline of 95% amid a general downturn in the cryptocurrency market.

Following the breach, the fraudulent token’s endorsement was removed from the compromised X account. Major cryptocurrency firms, including Crypto.com, have issued warnings about the scam token. As the 13th largest centralized cryptocurrency exchange, Crypto.com advised traders to avoid engaging with the fake Mbappé token.

Not all traders faced losses from the scam. Some individuals recognized the fraudulent nature of the token and managed to secure profits. According to Coinstats data, a more astute trader sold $126,000 worth of Solana tokens shortly before the value of the fake Mbappé token collapsed.

This incident underscores the risks associated with cryptocurrency trading and highlights the need for vigilance against fraudulent schemes, particularly those exploiting high-profile endorsements.

Disclaimer

The content, including but not limited to any articles, news, quotes, information, data, text, reports, ratings, opinions, images, photos, graphics, graphs, charts, animations and video (Content) is a service of Kalkine Media Pty Ltd (Kalkine Media, we or us), ACN 629 651 672 and is available for personal and non-commercial use only. The principal purpose of the Content is to educate and inform. The Content does not contain or imply any recommendation or opinion intended to influence your financial decisions and must not be relied upon by you as such. Some of the Content on this website may be sponsored/non-sponsored, as applicable, but is NOT a solicitation or recommendation to buy, sell or hold the stocks of the company(s) or engage in any investment activity under discussion. Kalkine Media is neither licensed nor qualified to provide investment advice through this platform. Users should make their own enquiries about any investments and Kalkine Media strongly suggests the users to seek advice from a financial adviser, stockbroker or other professional (including taxation and legal advice), as necessary. Kalkine Media hereby disclaims any and all the liabilities to any user for any direct, indirect, implied, punitive, special, incidental or other consequential damages arising from any use of the Content on this website, which is provided without warranties. The views expressed in the Content by the guests, if any, are their own and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Kalkine Media. Some of the images/music that may be used on this website are copyright to their respective owner(s). Kalkine Media does not claim ownership of any of the pictures displayed/music used on this website unless stated otherwise. The images/music that may be used on this website are taken from various sources on the internet, including paid subscriptions or are believed to be in public domain. We have used reasonable efforts to accredit the source wherever it was indicated as or found to be necessary.