Cryptocurrency [loss] $3M+

Tweet by zachxbt

2024-03-16 [vendor] Ansem Twitter impersonator [chain] solana
Primary Source ↗
Financial Loss $2.6M (2,600,000 USD)
Blockchain(s) Solana

Incident Details

Someone impersonating Ansem, an influential crypto trader, was able to scam people out of more than $2.6 million simply by replying to the real Ansem’s tweets. Using an account mimicking the real account, with only a slight difference in the username, a phisher convinced Ansem’s followers that he was creating his own Solana memecoin and asked them to buy in.In one of the real Ansem’s tweets, Ansem wrote “i dont launch coins bros” — nevertheless, followers eager to get in early on a new memecoin clicked a link offering a presale and had their wallets drained.Altogether, people lost $2.6 million to the scam. One individual lost $1.2 million.

Total loss estimated at $2,600,000.

Technical Details

Initial Attack Vector
On-chain theft (attributed by zachxbt)
Vendor / Product
Ansem Twitter impersonator

Timeline

  1. 2024-03-16 Breach occurred
  2. 2024-03-16 Publicly disclosed