- Memecoin rug pull scams amount to more than $500 million loss in 2024.
- Report found that social platforms X and YouTube are top hubs for crypto scams.
Crypto scammers and fraudsters always find new ways to exploit crypto investors and trading platforms. And, social media platforms are becoming like hubs for these scams. A recent report by Merkle Science found that social platforms X and YouTube are the top places where most of the crypto scams took place in 2024.
Merkle Science is a Predictive Web3 Risk and Intelligence platform that offers a multitude of services to investors and crypto businesses. Its recent report on memecoin scams found that investors lost more than $500 million worth of funds.
Memecoin rug pulls amounts to most of the losses on social media platforms. The report says that scammers are gaining expertise in social engineering which often involves impersonation and manipulation.
Once a scammer gains access to the personal data of a celebrity’s account, they are hacking the account and posting links to buy a fake memecoin. Investors flock to buy these memecoins and get rug pulled once the memecoin reaches its target market cap.
Social Media Platforms X and YouTube Turning Crypto Scam Hubs
The report also found that 755 of the crypto scams are taking place on X social media platform. Despite being the top social platforms where most of the industry officials, top celebrities, and government officials stay active, X is failing to protect users when it comes to crypto scams.
On the other hand, YouTube accounted for 19% of the crypto scams. Out of the various types of crypto scams, 44% of the social engineering scams involve rug pulls. Furthermore, 44% of the total scams are phishing attacks.
CFTC recently announced the launch of a national awareness effort to alert people about relationship investment scams. These types of scams often occur on social media, dating apps, and wrong-numbered texts.
Social media platforms like X, YouTube, and even Telegram reported major crypto scams multiple times. Even though the crypto industry is becoming mature by the year, scams are not subsiding. Scammers are becoming more intelligent in finding new ways to exploit vulnerabilities in social platforms.
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