Beware! 6,800 Scammers Strike During TRUMP Coin Frenzy! 😂💰

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In the wake of the TRUMP meme coin’s astonishing $72 billion debut, the crypto market found itself drowning in a deluge of scams, as if the very gates of hell had opened wide, unleashing 6,800 fraudulent tokens and 91 fake dApps upon the unsuspecting masses, analysts lamented.

What begins as a jubilant celebration can swiftly devolve into a cacophony of chaos. The launch of the Official Trump (TRUMP) meme coin in January not only seized the attention of the crypto community but also flung open Pandora’s box, inviting a horde of fraudsters eager to exploit the fervor, inundating the market with counterfeit tokens and nefarious applications. It’s like watching a circus where the clowns are the ones holding the knives!

On January 17, President Donald Trump unveiled his meme coin, heralded as a unique opportunity to express “support for, and engagement with, the ideals and beliefs” embodied by the symbol TRUMP, according to the meme coin’s official website, which was also paraded on Trump’s announcement on X. Because who wouldn’t want to invest in a coin that promises to embody the very essence of winning?

My NEW Official Trump Meme is HERE! It’s time to celebrate everything we stand for: WINNING! Join my very special Trump Community. GET YOUR $TRUMP NOW. Go to — Have Fun!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2025

Within a mere 48 hours of its release, TRUMP soared to a market cap of $72 billion, creating a “perfect storm for fraud,” analysts at the Israel-based blockchain forensic firm Blockaid observed. But this surge didn’t just attract eager speculators looking to cash in; it also drew in the malicious actors, like moths to a flame, ready to take advantage of the frenzy.

The blockchain firm revealed in a research report that scammers wasted no time in capitalizing on the buzz surrounding the token’s release. These crafty villains flooded the market with fake tokens, hoping to ensnare investors who were all too eager to jump on the bandwagon. It’s like a game of musical chairs, but the chairs are all rigged!

The report indicated a staggering 206% increase in tokens bearing the “Trump” name on launch day, skyrocketing from 3,300 to 6,800 tokens. These scammers crafted numerous tokens designed to mimic the TRUMP meme coin, making it a Herculean task for investors to discern the genuine from the fraudulent. Talk about a game of “find the needle in the haystack!”

A Blockaid spokesperson told crypto.news that scammers began making it “increasingly difficult for investors to distinguish between legitimate tokens and malicious ones.”

“[…] and this challenge is not unique to TRUMP. In almost every major web3 launch, our team sees how threat actors are creating projects that mimic the branding and excitement of the real tokens, creating confusion and exposing users to significant risks.”

— Oz Tamir, the research and development lead at Blockaid

With the public clamoring to purchase TRUMP tokens, these fake assets managed to gain traction and even generate profits for the scammers behind them. It’s like watching a magician pull rabbits out of a hat, except the rabbits are all fake and the hat is on fire!

The same surge in interest was mirrored in malicious decentralized applications, which also saw a sharp increase following the launch. The day after the meme coin hit the market, impersonator dApps experienced a 14x rise, Blockaid reported, adding that more than 90 fake applications sprang up in just 24 hours. It’s a veritable garden of weeds!

Blockaid’s report also noted that scammers didn’t stop with just the TRUMP token. Other tokens referencing members of the Trump family, such as “Melania” and “Barron,” surged by hundreds of percent, creating the illusion of a network of tokens tied to the Trump brand. These tokens helped fabricate the “illusion of an interconnected ecosystem,” Blockaid noted. It’s like a family reunion where everyone is trying to sell you something!

Tamir pointed out that the biggest spike in fake tokens “was noticeable on Solana, especially during this launch, given the prevalence of meme coins on the network.”

“That said, EVM networks like Ethereum have consistently been a hotspot for scams as well

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2025-01-28 03:02