As a seasoned crypto investor with a few battle scars on my forehead from past market volatilities and scams, I can’t help but feel a pang of disappointment and frustration upon hearing about the Metallica METAL token fiasco. It seems that every time we take a step forward in this burgeoning industry, we are met with a new challenge, and this time it came in the form of a Twitter hack.
As an analyst, I’ve observed an increasing trend in which cybercriminals hack the social media accounts of celebrities to promote fake investment opportunities. On June 25th, Metallica became a victim of this scheme when their official Twitter account was compromised. The hackers announced a nonexistent Solana memecoin called METAL, aiming to manipulate the market and profit from unsuspecting investors.
As a crypto investor, I’d rephrase it this way: Hackers took control of Metallica’s Twitter account and announced fraudulent partnerships with well-known companies like Ticketmaster and MoonPay regarding the METAL token. They went as far as hosting a Twitter Spaces event offering discounts on tickets and merchandise, generating substantial buzz around the scam.
In the 90-minute timeframe after the misleading posts were removed, the harm had already been inflicted: The trading volume for METAL exceeded $10 million, leading to a significant price drop. Launched via Solana’s pump.fun token deployer, METAL peaked at $0.003 before plummeting below $0.00007. At its peak, the token boasted a market capitalization of $3.37 million, but it currently hovers around $50,000.
🚨 Pls be careful. 🚨MoonPay does NOT support $METAL on @solana. — Keith A. Grossman (@KeithGrossman) June 26, 2024
The crypto world swiftly identified the fraudulent scheme, and MoonPay President Keith Grossman made it clear that MoonPay did not endorse METAL. MoonPay even put out a warning on Twitter, using Metallica’s iconic song title as a witty jab: “anyone peddling the METAL token isn’t the puppet master, they’re the scam artist.” In retaliation, the cybercriminals barred MoonPay from accessing Metallica’s compromised account.
The recent takeover of a high-profile social media account serves as a stark reminder of the ongoing problem with fraudsters exploiting the platforms of celebrities for deceitful activities. Just last week, 50 Cent’s fan base fell prey to a similar scam, and earlier in the month, Hulk Hogan suffered a similar fate.
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2024-06-26 15:21