A trader suffered a loss of over $1M in one hour after hackers used the footballer’s X account to shill a memecoin.
Thursday saw another shocking crypto scam unfold. Hackers compromised the French football star Kylian Mbappé’s X (formerly Twitter) account to promote a meme coin called $MBAPPE. With a huge following of 14.4 million X users, many of the footballer’s fans fell vulnerable to deception as some traded the token.
Over $1M Lost Within One Hour
According to data from Lookonchain, a blockchain transaction tracker, one unsuspecting investor fell victim to the scam. The trader swapped his 7,156 SOL worth $1.03 million for the fraudulent $MBAPPE token. However, their joy was short-lived as the coin’s value plummeted to just $9,200 in a single hour, wiping out nearly the entire investment.
It was discovered that the fake $MBAPPE token was created using Pump.fun, a platform famous for its easy and affordable token creation. The hackers exploited Mbappé’s massive following, posting fake promotions that briefly pumped the coin to millions in market cap before crashing and causing significant losses for investors.
Other Investors Profit from $MBAPPE
While the aforementioned investor suffered a loss, another made a fortune by investing 2 SOL ($286) in the coin and selling it at a profit, earning 1,398 SOL ($200,000). As reported by WuBlockchain on X, this investor demonstrated impeccable timing, buying the token at its lows and cashing out with an impressive 700x profit.
Another meme trader made a huge 433,000% profit by investing a mere $29 (0.2 Solana) in the same celebrity meme token, selling it just three minutes later for a whopping $125,160 (866.14 SOL).
Lookonchain analytics highlighted that this trader has a knack for meme-themed cryptos, investing small amounts in 251 tokens and boasting a success rate of 35.46%. Their winning strategy involves quick buys and sells, capitalizing on brief price surges.
The $MBAPPE token finally dropped to zero as hackers rug unsuspecting investors. The scam shows that high-profile accounts are not immune to manipulation. Recently, DOJA Cat’s X and McDonald’s Instagram were hacked similarly.
