Cryptocurrency crime detective ZachXBT has warned about a group of scammers who are trying to lure more victims using millions in stolen funds in a new scheme. According to ZachXBT, the group has already reached several protocols, with Magnate, Kokomo, Lendora and Solfire.
In this sense, the group worked on several different networks and specialized in rug pull scams. Now, ZachXBT states that the group’s new target is Leaper Finance, a project created on the Blast network.
Multi-million dollar rug pull scam network
According to the detective’s findings and released in a topic on X, the group has a history of performing rug pulls. These scams involve the creation of fake projects in which the supposed developers run away with the money.
Furthermore, the group is responsible for scams that hit the Magnate (which lost US$6.5 million), Kokomo (US$4 million), Solfire (US$4.8 million) and Lendora protocols. In these scams, hackers create the fake project and wait for investors to buy the tokens, then selling theirs.
“In the past, they let TVL grow above $1 million before stealing all user funds deposited into the protocol and falsifying documents. They also used low-level auditing firms.” ZachXBT revealed
The group expanded its operations across several blockchains, launching scams on platforms such as Base, Solana, Scroll, Optimism, Arbitrum, Ethereum and Avalanche. ZachXBT has also linked them to scams involving Hash DAO, Glori Finance and ZebraDAO. Taking all the attacks together, the losses attributed to them exceed US$20 million.
In another Publication On his X profile, ZachXBT warned users to “withdraw your assets immediately if you have funds deposited in this protocol.” In this case, the detective referred to ZebraDAO, which he accused of being part of this scam.
Scammers strike again
In its most recent scam, the group resurfaced with a new scheme involving Leaper Finance, a decentralized protocol that operates on the Blast network. The alleged authors injected almost US$1 million into the protocol, an amount acquired through previous scams.
The amount was transferred to a Leaper Finance address on the Blast network, increasing the protocol’s liquidity. With this measure, hackers aimed to attract innocent victims and instigate them to deposit cryptocurrencies into the protocol.
After Leaper Finance’s ties to scams were exposed, the group responded to ZachXBT by provoking the investigator, while also revealing a “token launch”.
“My comrades here at Lazarus fear you, but they admire you!” said the team, referencing the notorious North Korean hacker group.
Meanwhile, Leaper Finance and Glori Finance accounts on X have been disabled, as well as websites associated with these projects.
According to a dated report from security firm Web3 Immunefi, more than $200 million worth of cryptocurrencies were lost due to hackers and rug pull scams in 32 separate incidents during the first two months of 2024. This represents an increase of 15,000. 4% compared to the same period in 2023.
Source: https://www.criptofacil.com/alerta-hackers-miram-protocolos-de-camada-2-para-aplicar-golpes-milionarios/
