Binance Co-Founder Yi He Urges Elon Musk to Address Growing Crypto Scams on X
In Brief
Binance co-founder Yi He warns of a new scam on the X platform involving impersonation and threatening users to click on links for meme coins, posing financial risks.
Binance co-founder Yi He recently raised the alarm because of the new scam on the X platform and urged Elon Musk to take action against the prevalence of these frauds.
Yi He is concerned because of a particular impersonation fraud that has been going on on X. She posted pictures of accounts that were obvious clones of both her real name and her X profile nickname. Users were instructed to click on a link in one instance of the scam that promised access to meme coins supported by Binance, but Yi He stressed that the link could result in financial losses.
She stated that clicking the link would result in your money being stolen and that she had not released any additional MEMEcoins. This hacker connection deceived a lot of individuals, who now lost a sizable sum of money. Is there a method to deal with this problem?
Yi He worries point to a larger problem: frauds involving cryptocurrencies have proliferated on X, and experts believe that scammers working on the platform are responsible for a sizable percentage of all cryptocurrency scams.
According to a study done by Scam Sniffer, a Web3 anti-scam organization active on X, account impersonation frauds on X.com cost consumers close to $50 million per month. Even while these issues existed before Elon Musk joined the platform, the public’s vulnerability to impersonation schemes may have worsened due to confusion around the new owner’s controversial paid verification service.
Anyone with a smartphone may apply for the paid verification service and obtain verification, which might make it more difficult to discern between legitimate and fake accounts. While Musk has stated that he intends to deal with “bot” and “spam” problems related to the platform, it is unclear if he has handled crypto frauds in particular. Musk hasn’t replied to Yi He’s X.com post as of now.
The Risks of Crypto Phishing Schemes on Social Media
Scams involving impersonation on social networking sites such as X can take many different shapes, but they always aim to trick users into thinking they are communicating with a real company or person. The creation of fictitious accounts that imitate popular cryptocurrency firms, influencers, or projects’ usernames, profile images, and branding is a common practice in crypto fraud.
Scam victims may suffer serious repercussions, such as losing a great amount of money or having their digital identities compromised. Furthermore, the frequency of these frauds has the potential to reduce public confidence in the ecosystem.
Hacks of High-Profile Accounts Lately
The issue has been made worse by the high-profile X accounts of prominent businesses and cryptocurrency influencers falling prey to fraud since the start of 2024. After the US SEC X account was compromised in January, a fictitious statement about the approval of Bitcoin ETFs was released.
The hack was caused by a SIM-swapping assault connected to an official phone number related to the @SECGov account, according to the X safety team. Also, crypto scammers preyed on the accounts of Hyundai MEA and Netgear, propagating schemes meant to infect prospective victims with malware known as wallet drainers.
In addition, a phishing attempt on CoinGecko’s account resulted in a security breach in January for the crypto data aggregator. For a short while, their X account included a phishing scam link that was posing as an airdrop of CoinGecko tokens.
The hackers advertised GCKO, a brand-new cryptocurrency that they said could be used to pay for ANKR-like API services. This assertion was swiftly refuted, though, and users were alerted to the possibility of financial loss should they choose to participate in the scam.
Additionally, there are X accounts that mimic all of the UK’s main airlines, such as Virgin Atlantic, British Airways, easyJet, Jet2, Ryanair, Tui, and Wizz Air. Customers are frequently asked to transmit sensitive private information to scammers, or they are led to phishing pages where credit card information is obtained.
Customers are being warned by airlines not to reveal personal information on social media and to be cautious of phony accounts. They are also being urged by EasyJet and Wizz Air to follow and interact with their official feed, @easyJet, for the most recent information or to get help.
Malicious Crypto Ads on X
Elon Musk has pledged to reduce spam and bots on the platform, but hackers have discovered new methods to take advantage of X for their malicious intent. According to a number of complaints, scammers are using X adverts more frequently to advertise websites, which leads to false airdrops, cryptocurrency drainers, and other frauds.
In one recent example, a verified account on X shared a link to an authentic Forbes article, but following the link led readers to a Telegram account advertising a cryptocurrency fraud.
X has also come under fire for not providing a sufficient preview of the destination of links exchanged on the site. Scammers have taken advantage of this flaw, allowing automated accounts and bots to circumvent the “crypto link” and proceed directly to the legal destination while real users are sent to the fraud page.
This problem highlights the necessity for users to exercise caution when dealing with links on social media platforms and the requirement for X to put in place stronger link-handling procedures in order to safeguard its users from possible fraud.
The Path Forward for the Mitigation of Cryptocurrency Scams on X
First and foremost, in order to identify and eliminate phishing links, harmful adverts, and fake accounts, X needs to give top priority to putting strong security measures and content moderation regulations into place. This can entail using both human moderators and machine learning algorithms to quickly detect and report problematic activity.
Secondly, user education and awareness campaigns are crucial to empowering individuals to recognize and avoid falling victim to cryptocurrency scams. Platforms like X could partner with reputable organizations and influencers to disseminate information on common scam tactics and best practices for online security.
Thirdly, increased collaboration between X, law enforcement agencies, and regulatory bodies is essential to hold scammers accountable and deter future criminal activities. This could involve implementing stricter know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) measures, as well as facilitating information-sharing and coordinated investigations.
Disclaimer
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About The Author
Viktoriia is a writer on a variety of technology topics including Web3.0, AI and cryptocurrencies. Her extensive experience allows her to write insightful articles for the wider audience.
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Viktoriia is a writer on a variety of technology topics including Web3.0, AI and cryptocurrencies. Her extensive experience allows her to write insightful articles for the wider audience.
