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WallStreetBets Forum Members Targeted in Telegram Cryptocurrency Scam (bloomberg.com) 26

Members of Reddit's WallStreetBets forum were targeted in a probable cryptocurrency scam that could have left its victims with at least $2 million in losses. Bloomberg reports: Using the Telegram messaging service, an account called "WallStreetBets - Crypto Pumps" offered users the chance to buy a new token known as WSB Finance before it was listed on crypto exchanges, in what is referred to as a pre-mine sale. The account isn't affiliated with the infamous stock message board. The account running the sale told users to send Binance Coin, known as BNB, or Ether to a cryptocurrency wallet and then to contact its "token bot" on Telegram to receive WSB Finance coins. Those coins were never delivered. A second message then went out on Telegram telling those that had already sent payment that because of a problem with the bot, they'd have to send an equal amount again or they would lose their initial investment. Now thousands of people are taking to Telegram to voice their regrets and try and track down the person or persons behind the account.

More than 3,451 Binance Coin tokens were removed Tuesday from the wallet listed in the Crypto Pumps messages, according to data from BscScan, a validator on the Binance Smart Chain, a blockchain network that runs so-called smart-contract applications. At Binance Coin's current price of $625, that comes to more than $2.1 million and doesn't account for any Ether the account may have been sent. The "WallStreetBets - Crypto Pumps" account has since been deleted from Telegram, but whoever controlled it left those waiting on their payouts with a clue as to where there funds were going: "Buying lambo now."

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WallStreetBets Forum Members Targeted in Telegram Cryptocurrency Scam

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  • For all the interest in the story, one errant 'there' has thrown my attention span.
    • That is not being a grammar nazi, that's being a normal literate adult.
      • Mistakes like that are exactly what editors are supposed to find and fix.

        Even a rudimentary pass with Grammarly would have caught that.

        No, it's not the end of the world, but it's embarrassing to say the least.

      • Literate adults can figure it out from context. I can imagine lots of illiterate adults getting confused, though.

    • by cusco ( 717999 )

      I used to teach English as a Second Language, and corrected 90+ tests every month. I find typos like that very jarring, since I still mentally "correct" it before continuing.

  • by leathered ( 780018 ) on Thursday May 06, 2021 @08:04PM (#61357028)

    Goes like hand in glove.

    • "scams and currency"

      Ftfy.

  • by tomhath ( 637240 ) on Thursday May 06, 2021 @08:23PM (#61357046)
    Anyone foolish enough to fall for that obvious scam will not get any sympathy from me.
  • I'm trying (Score:5, Insightful)

    by JustAnotherOldGuy ( 4145623 ) on Thursday May 06, 2021 @08:28PM (#61357054) Journal

    So a bunch of wannabe crypto-cowboys rushed to cash in on the next tulip craze and got done in by their own greed and gullibility.

    I'm trying to care but it's just not happening.

  • This sort of thing has been going on in the alt-coin world for awhile. The way it typically works is you would download the Bitcoin source, make a few modifications, and give the coin some new name (which at this point is probably like trying to come up with a domain name that isn't already taken). After you've got your Furry Balls Plopped Menacingly On The Table Coin source all ready, before releasing it into the wild, you mine a bunch of the coins yourself using your own computer. Since the mining diff

  • by fredrated ( 639554 ) on Thursday May 06, 2021 @09:58PM (#61357198) Journal

    send me $ and I'll send you something of value later.

  • by NotEmmanuelGoldstein ( 6423622 ) on Friday May 07, 2021 @12:50AM (#61357524)

    ... have to send an equal amount again ...

    Today's lesson: How to turn a, dodgy at the best of times, ICO into ransomware.

    Forget home-brewing a crypto-coin or buying drive-by malware: Just send a ransom note. One has to admire the chutzpah.

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Things like this are an opportunity for somebody to set up a crypto escrow service, if they don't already exist. Of course this just falls in line with what I often imagine as the destiny for crypto: to re-invent traditional financial services with "crypto" in front of it.

"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler." -- Albert Einstein

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